Dial (Ben10/Marvel Cinematic Universe SI)
- Thread starter DesertChocolate
- Start date
robopanda
My avatar is the original Avatar!
- Location
- The Northern Air Temple
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wait a minute, Japanese assassin with a Thompson Contender? Did he come with a blonde in a nice suit?
GameDragon
Too Hot To Handle
- Location
- Challenger Deep
I really was expecting Way Big during that last chapter, or something similarly broken, but pulling out a new and canon alien is somehow so much better. Go-Go-Godzilla.
HAHAHAHA
That's awesome!!
Hydra: I give you an Alien Tzar Bomba
Dial: I see it and I raise you an extra dimensional Gojira
Hydra: ... damn it
Onto more serious things, I hope you and your family are able to recover from this disaster quickly
That's awesome!!
Hydra: I give you an Alien Tzar Bomba
Dial: I see it and I raise you an extra dimensional Gojira
Hydra: ... damn it
Onto more serious things, I hope you and your family are able to recover from this disaster quickly
Last edited:
Chapter 137
Chapter 137
Tony Stark/Iron Man
Tony fired another repulsor shot, ducking around a laser blast, then flying upwards to zoom around a pillar, firing another pair of blasts. "Now I know guys, you come to Earth, see what we've done with politics, food, and porn, and you get convinced we're gonna be easy to beat, right?"
He got hit by two blasts of energy, sending him back. He winced at the scars that left in his armor, but kept moving, shooting another repulsor blast.
"But the thing is about us Avengers, we're all dumb. Even a genius like me. We're just too stupid to quit when we should know better!"
He punctuated that comment by blasting one more Kree soldier, then crouching under an errant blade coming for his head.
While fighting the blue man group, Tony heard a sound like thunder in the distance. An explosion followed that immense sound, shaking the ship around them.
But he was WAY more interested in the sight of his HUD suddenly coming to life.
"Mr. Stark. You are back online."
Tony smirked. "How bout that?"
His suit came alive. And he clenched his fists as the software connected to it read his intent and fired.
A massive blast left his chest, smashing into the ceiling. He clenched his teeth and directed the unibeam as best as he could, forcing it to come down. The ship shook. Someone screamed. He ignored them, forcing more and more power out until his chest began to heat. Warning signs began to shout inside his suit as the unibeam ripped through the alien ship.
"Jarvis!"
"Ready when you are, sir!"
The back of his suit opened. Tony leaped out of it, spinning and rushing for the window, leaping into the open air.
Behind him, the Iron Man suit began to glow as it continued to fire its chest repulsor. The suit exploded into a small supernova when it finally overloaded, the Kree ship tearing itself apart as the combination of all the damage it had sustained finally caught up to it.
Tony continued to drop towards the forest below, wind blowing in his ears.
"Hey, uh, Tony?" the voice of Rhodey came to his ears. "Need some help?"
"No, I'm good," Tony watched as a suit came flying from the Enterprise. The red and gold flash was followed by the suit zooming over to him. Tony slipped into the suit, the familiar feeling of powerful robotics surrounding him once more. "So, what did I miss while I was killing the giant ship?"
"Godzilla," Rhodey said with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"...Is that like, a euphemism, or-"
"SKREEEEEOOOOONK!!!"
Tony spun in the air, hovering on his boots. Then he gaped at the sight before him.
A giant monster stood over the battlefield, sending out a blast of sound towards an Ubertank, turning it to scrap metal. It glared across the battlefield. A contingent of fighter ships went buzzing towards it, hitting his crystalline spines with laser blasts, releasing bombs that exploded around his feet. The..., Tony didn't know what to call it, a Gemzilla? It released a short blast of sound that destroyed one of the fighters, his claws snapping out to smash another. Quinjets flew in to support him.
That was when Tony saw the giant glowing symbol of the Omnitrix on the front of his chest. "Fuck me, the toy division is going to love this…"
"You're thinking of merchandise now!?" Rhodey said, flying over to join his fellow powersuit user.
"They pay your bills, Mister," Tony joked. The pair zoomed towards Dial, who was making his way towards the Hydra Base. The rest of BRIDGE and their allies converged on him, using the giant Kaiju as a figurehead to rally on. Tony flew over to Dial's head, the monster giving him some side-eye. "Dial I don't know how to tell you this but if you put on any more weight you are going to have your own gravitational pull!"
"Grrrr," the sound of his growl echoed through Tony's suit, vibrating in his chest.
"Oh, this ain't one of the talkative ones?" Tony chuckled. "Then again, looks like you have your own way to win conversations!"
Hydra gathered before the base, rushing towards them. Alien fighters, tanks, soldiers, Gamma-Hydras, flying soldiers in Chitauri armor, all rushing towards them.
Tony and Rhodey took up positions alongside Dial. Quinjets dropped in alongside them. A trio of building-size tanks with Chinese Flags on them took point, M1-Abrams with laser weapons and Russian tanks with Tesla coils strapped to them joining their large counterparts, while jeeps followed behind. Sam Wilson came swooping in. Hulk and She-Hulk landed on the shoulders of Dial, while Thor zoomed past.
Tony took stock of the two armies and those who were a part of it, noting the sight of Chenobog laughing while running next to Captain America. He turned on a private line.
"This is turning into 'World War Weird' huh Steve?" Tony snarked.
In an amused tone, Steve replied. "I don't know. Seems like all the others when you get down to it."
As though by some unknown signal, both armies started firing en masse. Thor released a blast of lightning that crackled across the front-line. Tony let loose with his repulsors while Rhodey joined in with the addition of bullets
As the armies met in war the center, the sound of a monster roaring overshadowed everything.
------
T'Challa/Black Panther
In a Royal Talon Fighter, swooping in over the battlefield, T'Challa stared at the sight of a giant monster made of crystals roaring as it ripped a tank in half with his claws.
"When you told me we would be helping BRIDGE with a war, this is not what I expected," Okoye, the leader of the Dora Milaje and one of his oldest friends, mumbled.
"What did you expect?" T'Challa asked, noting the giant tanks that were destroying large portions of the battlefield.
"Well, not this!" she said weakly.
"You think you're surprised?" Ares, the Greek God of War, leaned his head in between them. "I'm trying to decide what sort of training would work with a Titan."
Okoye gave T'Challa a pointed look that made him smile.
In her defense, the day had been full of surprises. Natasha Romanov and Maria Hill had reached out to his father requesting a small portion of Wakanda's forces to aid them, with hopes that their advanced technology and resources could come in during the battle and turn the tide if need be. As part of that, Okoye and T'Challa had picked up a group of 'Reserve Avengers'.
So T'Challa was surprised when one of those was a giant of a man who greeted him as 'Bast's New Chosen! How is that sexy Goddess?'
"There," Ares pointed at a point just to the left of where the armies were clashing. "We can flank the Hydra there."
"My prince?" Okoyo asked him.
"He is the God of War," T'Challa said with an easy smile. "Do as he says. Have the other fighters join the battle in the sky."
"And me?" Okoye asked.
"I need you to act as my eyes in the sky," T'Challa told her.
She didn't seem happy with that, but only let out a small 'tsh' sound to show her displeasure.
T'Challa rose to his feet, holding the helmet of his armor under his arm. Ares moved aside to let him pass, joining him in the back.
There, two more people were waiting. Luna Snow, someone T'Challa had been surprised to see was joining them. He knew her of course, but only as a musician whose loud pop beats were often playing in his sister's laboratory when he would visit. Not as a warrior. But a quick search showed she had some renown as a superheroine.
She didn't look it. While Ares was carrying himself with simple confidence, she was biting her lip as she stared at a hologram displaying the battle below. The black and white-haired pop idol was wearing her 'battle suit', but looked as though she was controlling her breathing.
"Nervous?" T'Challa asked her.
"No. I'm scared," Luna smiled up at him briefly. "I've been nervous before concerts. I know I can fight. I'm just scared someone will kill me."
"Then you are smarter than I am," they looked at the last person. He was an 8-foot tall man with red scaled skin, kind golden eyes, dressed in the armor of a knight from medieval times.
It was still stranger to meet a pop idol.
"My first battle, I went in believing I was invincible," he said with amusement. "Until Lancelot sent me flying back with a single thrust of his spear."
"Heh," Ares said with a chuckle. "I remember that."
"Fear is okay," Sir Benedict rose to his feet. "But use it to fuel you. To sharpen your resolve and senses. Bolster it with drive. And with the knowledge of a righteous cause. Such a thing is a rare wonder in today's world. We are lucky. To be fighting with the side of good."
T'Challa and Luna smiled, nodding. Ares only grunted, looking a bit dismissive but not disagreeing.
"I suppose we'll drop now," T'Challa said after a moment. "Okoye! I will see you after the battle!"
"You better," she looked back at him from the pilot seat. "Your sister would be an insufferable Black Panther."
He grinned as he placed his helmet on.
Then, holes appeared under their feet. T'Challa, Luna, Ares, and Benedict fell for several feet. T'Challa landed with ease, his enhanced power and vibranium suit allowing him a panther's grace. Luna created an ice pillar that she went sliding down.
Ares and Benedict landed with twin booms of noise, rising up with weapons raised.
A group of Hydra soldiers noticed them. T'Challa flashed his claws, while Ares grinned.
"Come then," Ares laughed. "It has been too long since I've killed men and women like this!"
A Gamma-Hydra, misshapen and ugly, roared and charged him. Ares ducked under his clumsy punch, slicing into the giant green woman's Achilles Heel by treating a table-sized sword like a baton, then cutting her throat when her lack of balance put her into position for the dagger.
Benedict charged in alongside him, flames belching from the dragon knight's throat as he smashed into a contingent of soldiers.
T'Challa spun into the general, backflipping into the air to claw through the heart of a Chitauri-armored soldier, spinning around to dodge a blast of lasers, landing on the shoulders of a man, gripping his head with his feet and snapping the Hydra goon's neck in a spinning leap, jumping forward with claws out once more.
Then, Luna struck. And as impressive as the others were, they didn't compare.
A wave of cold was followed by a wave of icicles the size of a man snapping forward, turning the soldiers near them into frozen statues. Luna leaped up, arms forward, and three icicles smashed into the center of more soldiers, flash-freezing them. When Benedict ran through them, she grit her teeth, horrified, but still fighting.
That was when allies joined them in battle.
"Luna!" a red and white shield flew past her, smashing into a soldier.
"Steve!" she called back happily as Captain America got to her side, blocking a laser blast on his shield.
"Panther," Bucky Barnes landed next to T'Challa, who clawed out the face of a Hydra soldier.
"Barnes," the two black-armored men ran side by side, Barnes shooting wildly while T'Challa used his invulnerable armor to act as cover.
"ARES!" the God of War froze, still holding a soldier by the neck. He slowly looked down at the ground.
"Oh...Oh no."
Benedict looked over at him. "Are you okay?" he asked while stabbing through a Gamma-Hydra.
"No. My old drinking buddy is here."
"Ares, buddy!" a shadow fell into the crowd of enemies, slicing apart three soldiers, while a tank exploded. From it, came a giant shadow man. "Good to see you! I hear you have a kid now!"
"Chernobog," Ares sighed, looking over at Benedict. "This is Benedict. Now, can we go kill things?"
"Shiiiiit, Grecian!" Chernobog turned, joining Benedict and Ares. "That's all you had to say!"
Then, before they could move, a shadow passed over their heads. They looked up to see Dial, in that giant monster form, pass by. T'Challa stopped by them.
"This war is very strange," T'Challa said to the trio.
"Actually, this makes me feel nostalgic," Ares said idly.
"Same/Indeed," Chernobog and Benedict said in unison.
T'Challa thought about that for just a moment. That wars like this, with monsters of such size, had once been commonplace. And were returning.
That was worrying. Very worrying.
He turned his focus to the battle, but the thought remained.
------
Sam Wilson/The Falcon
Sam surveyed the battlefield below him as he cartwheeled through the air, firing his submachine gun with his right hand and his repulsor beam with his other. A fighter zoomed past, which he ducked around to shoot in the engines in back.
"Goddamn, this is crazy!" he shouted, dropping down and snapping his wings open to shoot back up, ducking under a giant arm as he did. "Someone tell Dial to warn us next time stuff like this happens!"
The giant monster in question let out a growl of annoyance that Sam felt vibrating in his bones. He grinned, then twisted to survey the battle again.
That was when he saw a group of 3 alien fighters flying down towards a clear section of the battlefield. He looked in the direction they were flying towards.
In that battlefield, a group of Chinese and American troopers were fighting Hydra and Kree soldiers on foot. They were outgunned but sticking to their guns, ducking behind boulders for cover. And they didn't see the fighters coming for them in an airstrike.
Sam moved without thinking, twisting in the air to fly down towards the trio of fighters. He clenched his teeth, pulling in his wings and letting loose with his jets. "Come on, come on!" he roared. As he flew down towards the trio, a port opened up on his shoulder armor, unleashing a single drone. The red bird-like drone flew ahead of him, attaching to the backmost fighter before exploding. The fighter shuddered, a hole now in it's main engine. Sam grabbed a grenade off his belt, dropping it into that hole as he flew past, the ship blowing apart.
The two fighters left noticed that. One twisted, moving towards him, while the other kept flying towards the soldiers.
"Fuck!" Sam twisted out of the way of a green beam of energy but forced himself to keep moving forward, aiming for the front-most fighter now. "Come on, come on!"
The fighter shooting at him followed. Sam felt the hairs on his body shrivel whenever those immensely hot beams flew past him. He screamed when one of them got close enough to his left arm to burn his skin, the smell of cooked flesh following. But he ignored it.
The lead fighter was getting close enough that it had begun to fire on the soldiers. Sam saw one Chinese woman get torn in half. He screamed in rage.
Sam raised his hands, forcing them to aim correctly. He fired a repulsor and bullets in tandem. The hardened shells hit wherever the repulsors did, the beams of power tearing through the metal shell of the ship before the bullets pierced into those weakened sections.
"Raaaaaagh!" Sam screamed as the wet snow falling down stung across his face. He felt another beam fly past. The ground below was a blur. He kept firing at the engine of the ship. Another soldier died.
And the engine for that ship exploded. Sam had a moment to feel glee at the sight of the ship tearing apart in mid-air.
Then. A piece of the engine was blown away. Sam tried to dodge. He felt something thump into his right leg, followed by immense pain. He gasped, the agony so strong he could barely breathe. He snapped his wings out, forcing himself to spin around and aim behind himself at the last enemy fighter. His right-wing was ripped into by a bolt of energy, melting a hole through it. He focused, firing at the windshield of the fighter. The repulsor blast shattered the glass. The bullets shattered the alien's face.
Then he was falling. Pain was still filling him, throbbing in his leg. He spun around and pressed a button on his chest. A parachute snapped out, sending him upwards, the fighter flying underneath him to crash into the forest. Then he crashed to the floor. When had he gotten so close? Why was everything going black, then clear? What was happening?
He was lying down. But he could hear voices. He struggled upwards, arms pushing on the ground. Then he fell.
"Ugh!" Sam tried to stand, but his right leg wasn't working. He felt sweat . The enemy soldiers. They had to be stopped. He turned over, ready to fight.
A red and white shield flew over him. The sound of metal hitting something filled the air. And Sam relaxed.
They were here.
"Sam!" Steve was there. Looking down at him. "Sam, Sam, can you hear me!?"
"I killed the ships," Sam whispered. "Are they okay?"
"Yes, yes they are!" Steve was staring over him, pausing. "God, Sam-"
The sounds of lasers were followed by Steve snapping to his feet to block blasts of light on his shield.
"Captain," a thin and reedy voice said softly. Steve glanced over at the speaker. Then he staggered.
"Jesus! What are-"
Maria spoke. Ah, Maria. She was so pretty. Sam coughed, listening. She was screaming for some reason. "He's an ally, Steve, let him help Sam!"
"Maria," Steve mumbled, then grimaced. "Fine!"
"My thanks, Captain America," that thin voice was followed by two arms coming into Sam's view. One was holding a scalpel, while the other hand was cleaning with some sort of solution. Then, two more arms stretched out.
Sam's eyes stared in horror as he began to blackout. "Now. Let us prepare my latest patient for surgery. For my Tonic."
The last thing Sam saw before passing out was a single glowing eye set into a horrific face.
------
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
I roared. And things were destroyed. I walked. And the earth trembled.
I felt my lungs breathing out, and saw gusts of wind buffet the snow falling from above.
Was this how Godzilla always felt? Like he was walking in a world of fragility? In terms of scale, if this form had been as big as, say, Four Arms, then the Tetramand would be stronger. But it WASN'T that small. I was much more than that.
Hulk landed on my claw and used it as a platform to jump upwards and smash into a fighter ship. I raised a claw and slashed outwards, crystal blades slicing through a tank with ease.
Fantasma and Scarlet Witch zoomed past, throwing bolts of purple and red magic at a group of Chitauri soldiers before joining arms and spinning together as they flew forward, becoming a purple and red swirl of colors that smashed into their enemies.
We were almost at the base. I glared at it.
"Hey honey," Jen landed on my head. "Bye honey!" she leaped off, landing feet first into a jeep.
"Gruh," I couldn't help a pleased noise before returning my focus.
"Dial," Natasha's voice filled my head. "We need to take down that shield. Hulk gave it his best shot, but we need a lot more force to take it out. Can you-"
I roared. The waves of sound smashed into the base's shield. It flickered, but after a moment returned to normal. Good enough. I had a plan.
I looked around for the Hulk. After a moment, I saw Bruce's other throwing a tree at something nearby. I reached out, my claw approaching him.
He spun at the shadow that approached, frowning in confusion when he saw my paw. "What Dial Doing?"
I didn't have a way to tell him. Instead, I held my palm out. Confused, he hopped into it. I lifted him up, wincing when a bunch of lasers smacked into my head before Tony shot the offending soldier down. I gently pulled my hand back. Then, I raised my other claw. Slowly, I pointed at the base.
"...Heh. HEHEHEHAHAHAHA!!!!" Hulk roared loudly. "YES! DO IT!"
I reared back. My mouth opened. I roared, long and hard. The sound waves smashed into the shield around the Hydra base. Then I snapped forward.
"HUUUUUUUUULKKKK!" the green man zipped through the air like a bullet. Or a cannonball. His fists were clenched and his arms were thrust outwards into a Superman pose, a laugh following his path. "SMAAAAASH!"
He hit with a booming explosion of sound, dust, then fire and electricity. The shield exploded in turn, the combination of hits finally overtaxing it, the sight of blue force fields cracking apart making me feel as giddy as a school child.
"Well… that works," Natasha mumbled as I moved to the Hulk.
Once I'd gotten close enough, I tapped the Omnitrix, shrinking down into my human form. Being a Godzilla was probably going to be my opening move from now on. But only when it wouldn't crush people. And as bad as Hydra was, they had hostages we wanted to help.
I landed near the crater he'd smashed into the building. On the inside was what looked like a hanger of sorts, empty except for a big pile of rubble.
"Hulk!? Buddy? You in there?"
"..." A green head of hair poked out of the rubble. Hulk grinned at me. "Hulk Flew!"
"Hell yeah, you did!" I said walking over the rubble and looking around, pulling my sword out of its sheath as I walked. "Okay. You ready for the next part of the plan?"
The Hulk nodded, coming out of the rubble and walking over to rub my head gently. "Hulk be back. Dial be careful."
"Don't worry bud," I looked behind me. "Our friends will have our backs."
"Always," Steve said, smiling under his helmet. He was at the front of the crowd, his shield resting on his arm. He had blood on his blue and white armor but looked healthy. Though he also looked like… I don't know. Like something bad had happened. But then, this was a war.
Bucky and the Punisher hefted their guns, Black Panther crouched between them on a piece of rubble, the three black armor-clad men looking dangerous as fuck.
Iron Man floated above, wearing his iconic red and gold. This version looked more advanced than the one he'd come in with though, with silver highlights across the arms and legs.
Warrior walked over to me, her helmet open to reveal her smile, looking more like Xena than ever before, while Mockingbird twirled her batons nearby.
"Time to bring down the castle," I turned to look into the base, gritting my teeth. Time to beat the shit out of Hydra.
------
Maria Hill/Director of BRIDGE
Maria watched as the infiltration team slipped in, the main army beginning to circle the base. As she did, a message came in on another screen. She looked over at it.
Strucker. She scowled at the little Hydra symbol he sent her, a mockery in every way. She turned it on, ignoring Buckler walking over as well.
The man in question was smiling when the video call started. "Hill. Dial is a ridiculous bastard."
"Is he? I haven't noticed," Maria said blandly.
Strucker smirked. "In point of fact, well. All of BRIDGE is becoming quite… over the top. You all have begun to represent a madness that has begun to take over the world."
"Is there a point to this, or are you just trying to banter for the sake of it," Maria snarked. "Because I'll be honest. I just don't care about your opinion."
"Ohhh, these are not opinions," Strucker slowly leaned into the camera. "Bridge. Everything it stands for? It is the beginning of something terrible. A world I will not allow."
"Hard to prevent things from a death bed."
"...It depends on how desperate one is," Strucker said with a smile.
The video call shut off. Maria stared at the black screen. At the end there. Strucker's confidence had become something… fragile. Broken. That could be good. But it was also worrying.
"Maria!" Natasha shouted behind her. She turned to look in her direction. Natasha had a panicked look to her. "Pepper Potts is sending us a distress call. Avengers Tower is being invaded!"
------
Avengers Tower, New York
They appeared in flashes of light. In the main lobby, through the various floors, around 40 people. They were covered in heavy black armor, sparks flashing across them as they showed up, screaming in agony. They bled in sections. Under their armor, metal had become fused to flesh. Three died as they arrived. But the rest forced themselves on, the Hydra symbol on their chest shining.
Before leaving, Tony and Jury Rigg had worked together to develop a shield that could prevent anyone from teleporting in, creating a series of cruel ways to punish those who would try. They had not expected that those who would try would be so far gone mentally they would force themselves to go anyways. The Fishhook device pushed them through. The armor was calibrated to defend them. And when both those things failed to protect them entirely from the effects of forcing the teleportation, Strucker's Scepter gave them a horrific conviction.
When they appeared, the Tower immediately began to sound out the alarms. Security officers with pistols fired on them while people tried to run. Their bullets bounced off the Hydra Teleunits armor. A receptionist tried to run before a bullet drilled into her throat. Outside, fans of the Avengers gathered around the base of the building for a chance to see their heroes ran for their lives.
A black booted foot stepped into the blood of a young woman as she cried in a corner. She looked up. Her face was reflected in a helmet. A rifle raised and fired. The soldier moved on.
There were more targets waiting.
------
Author's Note: This was kinda hard to write? I mean, we're going to the end of a journey in a lot of ways. The end of something that's been a part of my life for a very long time… Well. I'll do my best to make this worth it.
Next chapter will come out much sooner. In the meantime, I'll continue to post all new chapters of Dial early on my Patreon as well as my other stories. Also, I wrote a new self-insert story about a guy getting dropped into the My Hero Academia universe in the body of a teenage Bowser. So far people seem to like it, so check it out and let me know what ya'll think!
Tony Stark/Iron Man
Tony fired another repulsor shot, ducking around a laser blast, then flying upwards to zoom around a pillar, firing another pair of blasts. "Now I know guys, you come to Earth, see what we've done with politics, food, and porn, and you get convinced we're gonna be easy to beat, right?"
He got hit by two blasts of energy, sending him back. He winced at the scars that left in his armor, but kept moving, shooting another repulsor blast.
"But the thing is about us Avengers, we're all dumb. Even a genius like me. We're just too stupid to quit when we should know better!"
He punctuated that comment by blasting one more Kree soldier, then crouching under an errant blade coming for his head.
While fighting the blue man group, Tony heard a sound like thunder in the distance. An explosion followed that immense sound, shaking the ship around them.
But he was WAY more interested in the sight of his HUD suddenly coming to life.
"Mr. Stark. You are back online."
Tony smirked. "How bout that?"
His suit came alive. And he clenched his fists as the software connected to it read his intent and fired.
A massive blast left his chest, smashing into the ceiling. He clenched his teeth and directed the unibeam as best as he could, forcing it to come down. The ship shook. Someone screamed. He ignored them, forcing more and more power out until his chest began to heat. Warning signs began to shout inside his suit as the unibeam ripped through the alien ship.
"Jarvis!"
"Ready when you are, sir!"
The back of his suit opened. Tony leaped out of it, spinning and rushing for the window, leaping into the open air.
Behind him, the Iron Man suit began to glow as it continued to fire its chest repulsor. The suit exploded into a small supernova when it finally overloaded, the Kree ship tearing itself apart as the combination of all the damage it had sustained finally caught up to it.
Tony continued to drop towards the forest below, wind blowing in his ears.
"Hey, uh, Tony?" the voice of Rhodey came to his ears. "Need some help?"
"No, I'm good," Tony watched as a suit came flying from the Enterprise. The red and gold flash was followed by the suit zooming over to him. Tony slipped into the suit, the familiar feeling of powerful robotics surrounding him once more. "So, what did I miss while I was killing the giant ship?"
"Godzilla," Rhodey said with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"...Is that like, a euphemism, or-"
"SKREEEEEOOOOONK!!!"
Tony spun in the air, hovering on his boots. Then he gaped at the sight before him.
A giant monster stood over the battlefield, sending out a blast of sound towards an Ubertank, turning it to scrap metal. It glared across the battlefield. A contingent of fighter ships went buzzing towards it, hitting his crystalline spines with laser blasts, releasing bombs that exploded around his feet. The..., Tony didn't know what to call it, a Gemzilla? It released a short blast of sound that destroyed one of the fighters, his claws snapping out to smash another. Quinjets flew in to support him.
That was when Tony saw the giant glowing symbol of the Omnitrix on the front of his chest. "Fuck me, the toy division is going to love this…"
"You're thinking of merchandise now!?" Rhodey said, flying over to join his fellow powersuit user.
"They pay your bills, Mister," Tony joked. The pair zoomed towards Dial, who was making his way towards the Hydra Base. The rest of BRIDGE and their allies converged on him, using the giant Kaiju as a figurehead to rally on. Tony flew over to Dial's head, the monster giving him some side-eye. "Dial I don't know how to tell you this but if you put on any more weight you are going to have your own gravitational pull!"
"Grrrr," the sound of his growl echoed through Tony's suit, vibrating in his chest.
"Oh, this ain't one of the talkative ones?" Tony chuckled. "Then again, looks like you have your own way to win conversations!"
Hydra gathered before the base, rushing towards them. Alien fighters, tanks, soldiers, Gamma-Hydras, flying soldiers in Chitauri armor, all rushing towards them.
Tony and Rhodey took up positions alongside Dial. Quinjets dropped in alongside them. A trio of building-size tanks with Chinese Flags on them took point, M1-Abrams with laser weapons and Russian tanks with Tesla coils strapped to them joining their large counterparts, while jeeps followed behind. Sam Wilson came swooping in. Hulk and She-Hulk landed on the shoulders of Dial, while Thor zoomed past.
Tony took stock of the two armies and those who were a part of it, noting the sight of Chenobog laughing while running next to Captain America. He turned on a private line.
"This is turning into 'World War Weird' huh Steve?" Tony snarked.
In an amused tone, Steve replied. "I don't know. Seems like all the others when you get down to it."
As though by some unknown signal, both armies started firing en masse. Thor released a blast of lightning that crackled across the front-line. Tony let loose with his repulsors while Rhodey joined in with the addition of bullets
As the armies met in war the center, the sound of a monster roaring overshadowed everything.
------
T'Challa/Black Panther
In a Royal Talon Fighter, swooping in over the battlefield, T'Challa stared at the sight of a giant monster made of crystals roaring as it ripped a tank in half with his claws.
"When you told me we would be helping BRIDGE with a war, this is not what I expected," Okoye, the leader of the Dora Milaje and one of his oldest friends, mumbled.
"What did you expect?" T'Challa asked, noting the giant tanks that were destroying large portions of the battlefield.
"Well, not this!" she said weakly.
"You think you're surprised?" Ares, the Greek God of War, leaned his head in between them. "I'm trying to decide what sort of training would work with a Titan."
Okoye gave T'Challa a pointed look that made him smile.
In her defense, the day had been full of surprises. Natasha Romanov and Maria Hill had reached out to his father requesting a small portion of Wakanda's forces to aid them, with hopes that their advanced technology and resources could come in during the battle and turn the tide if need be. As part of that, Okoye and T'Challa had picked up a group of 'Reserve Avengers'.
So T'Challa was surprised when one of those was a giant of a man who greeted him as 'Bast's New Chosen! How is that sexy Goddess?'
"There," Ares pointed at a point just to the left of where the armies were clashing. "We can flank the Hydra there."
"My prince?" Okoyo asked him.
"He is the God of War," T'Challa said with an easy smile. "Do as he says. Have the other fighters join the battle in the sky."
"And me?" Okoye asked.
"I need you to act as my eyes in the sky," T'Challa told her.
She didn't seem happy with that, but only let out a small 'tsh' sound to show her displeasure.
T'Challa rose to his feet, holding the helmet of his armor under his arm. Ares moved aside to let him pass, joining him in the back.
There, two more people were waiting. Luna Snow, someone T'Challa had been surprised to see was joining them. He knew her of course, but only as a musician whose loud pop beats were often playing in his sister's laboratory when he would visit. Not as a warrior. But a quick search showed she had some renown as a superheroine.
She didn't look it. While Ares was carrying himself with simple confidence, she was biting her lip as she stared at a hologram displaying the battle below. The black and white-haired pop idol was wearing her 'battle suit', but looked as though she was controlling her breathing.
"Nervous?" T'Challa asked her.
"No. I'm scared," Luna smiled up at him briefly. "I've been nervous before concerts. I know I can fight. I'm just scared someone will kill me."
"Then you are smarter than I am," they looked at the last person. He was an 8-foot tall man with red scaled skin, kind golden eyes, dressed in the armor of a knight from medieval times.
It was still stranger to meet a pop idol.
"My first battle, I went in believing I was invincible," he said with amusement. "Until Lancelot sent me flying back with a single thrust of his spear."
"Heh," Ares said with a chuckle. "I remember that."
"Fear is okay," Sir Benedict rose to his feet. "But use it to fuel you. To sharpen your resolve and senses. Bolster it with drive. And with the knowledge of a righteous cause. Such a thing is a rare wonder in today's world. We are lucky. To be fighting with the side of good."
T'Challa and Luna smiled, nodding. Ares only grunted, looking a bit dismissive but not disagreeing.
"I suppose we'll drop now," T'Challa said after a moment. "Okoye! I will see you after the battle!"
"You better," she looked back at him from the pilot seat. "Your sister would be an insufferable Black Panther."
He grinned as he placed his helmet on.
Then, holes appeared under their feet. T'Challa, Luna, Ares, and Benedict fell for several feet. T'Challa landed with ease, his enhanced power and vibranium suit allowing him a panther's grace. Luna created an ice pillar that she went sliding down.
Ares and Benedict landed with twin booms of noise, rising up with weapons raised.
A group of Hydra soldiers noticed them. T'Challa flashed his claws, while Ares grinned.
"Come then," Ares laughed. "It has been too long since I've killed men and women like this!"
A Gamma-Hydra, misshapen and ugly, roared and charged him. Ares ducked under his clumsy punch, slicing into the giant green woman's Achilles Heel by treating a table-sized sword like a baton, then cutting her throat when her lack of balance put her into position for the dagger.
Benedict charged in alongside him, flames belching from the dragon knight's throat as he smashed into a contingent of soldiers.
T'Challa spun into the general, backflipping into the air to claw through the heart of a Chitauri-armored soldier, spinning around to dodge a blast of lasers, landing on the shoulders of a man, gripping his head with his feet and snapping the Hydra goon's neck in a spinning leap, jumping forward with claws out once more.
Then, Luna struck. And as impressive as the others were, they didn't compare.
A wave of cold was followed by a wave of icicles the size of a man snapping forward, turning the soldiers near them into frozen statues. Luna leaped up, arms forward, and three icicles smashed into the center of more soldiers, flash-freezing them. When Benedict ran through them, she grit her teeth, horrified, but still fighting.
That was when allies joined them in battle.
"Luna!" a red and white shield flew past her, smashing into a soldier.
"Steve!" she called back happily as Captain America got to her side, blocking a laser blast on his shield.
"Panther," Bucky Barnes landed next to T'Challa, who clawed out the face of a Hydra soldier.
"Barnes," the two black-armored men ran side by side, Barnes shooting wildly while T'Challa used his invulnerable armor to act as cover.
"ARES!" the God of War froze, still holding a soldier by the neck. He slowly looked down at the ground.
"Oh...Oh no."
Benedict looked over at him. "Are you okay?" he asked while stabbing through a Gamma-Hydra.
"No. My old drinking buddy is here."
"Ares, buddy!" a shadow fell into the crowd of enemies, slicing apart three soldiers, while a tank exploded. From it, came a giant shadow man. "Good to see you! I hear you have a kid now!"
"Chernobog," Ares sighed, looking over at Benedict. "This is Benedict. Now, can we go kill things?"
"Shiiiiit, Grecian!" Chernobog turned, joining Benedict and Ares. "That's all you had to say!"
Then, before they could move, a shadow passed over their heads. They looked up to see Dial, in that giant monster form, pass by. T'Challa stopped by them.
"This war is very strange," T'Challa said to the trio.
"Actually, this makes me feel nostalgic," Ares said idly.
"Same/Indeed," Chernobog and Benedict said in unison.
T'Challa thought about that for just a moment. That wars like this, with monsters of such size, had once been commonplace. And were returning.
That was worrying. Very worrying.
He turned his focus to the battle, but the thought remained.
------
Sam Wilson/The Falcon
Sam surveyed the battlefield below him as he cartwheeled through the air, firing his submachine gun with his right hand and his repulsor beam with his other. A fighter zoomed past, which he ducked around to shoot in the engines in back.
"Goddamn, this is crazy!" he shouted, dropping down and snapping his wings open to shoot back up, ducking under a giant arm as he did. "Someone tell Dial to warn us next time stuff like this happens!"
The giant monster in question let out a growl of annoyance that Sam felt vibrating in his bones. He grinned, then twisted to survey the battle again.
That was when he saw a group of 3 alien fighters flying down towards a clear section of the battlefield. He looked in the direction they were flying towards.
In that battlefield, a group of Chinese and American troopers were fighting Hydra and Kree soldiers on foot. They were outgunned but sticking to their guns, ducking behind boulders for cover. And they didn't see the fighters coming for them in an airstrike.
Sam moved without thinking, twisting in the air to fly down towards the trio of fighters. He clenched his teeth, pulling in his wings and letting loose with his jets. "Come on, come on!" he roared. As he flew down towards the trio, a port opened up on his shoulder armor, unleashing a single drone. The red bird-like drone flew ahead of him, attaching to the backmost fighter before exploding. The fighter shuddered, a hole now in it's main engine. Sam grabbed a grenade off his belt, dropping it into that hole as he flew past, the ship blowing apart.
The two fighters left noticed that. One twisted, moving towards him, while the other kept flying towards the soldiers.
"Fuck!" Sam twisted out of the way of a green beam of energy but forced himself to keep moving forward, aiming for the front-most fighter now. "Come on, come on!"
The fighter shooting at him followed. Sam felt the hairs on his body shrivel whenever those immensely hot beams flew past him. He screamed when one of them got close enough to his left arm to burn his skin, the smell of cooked flesh following. But he ignored it.
The lead fighter was getting close enough that it had begun to fire on the soldiers. Sam saw one Chinese woman get torn in half. He screamed in rage.
Sam raised his hands, forcing them to aim correctly. He fired a repulsor and bullets in tandem. The hardened shells hit wherever the repulsors did, the beams of power tearing through the metal shell of the ship before the bullets pierced into those weakened sections.
"Raaaaaagh!" Sam screamed as the wet snow falling down stung across his face. He felt another beam fly past. The ground below was a blur. He kept firing at the engine of the ship. Another soldier died.
And the engine for that ship exploded. Sam had a moment to feel glee at the sight of the ship tearing apart in mid-air.
Then. A piece of the engine was blown away. Sam tried to dodge. He felt something thump into his right leg, followed by immense pain. He gasped, the agony so strong he could barely breathe. He snapped his wings out, forcing himself to spin around and aim behind himself at the last enemy fighter. His right-wing was ripped into by a bolt of energy, melting a hole through it. He focused, firing at the windshield of the fighter. The repulsor blast shattered the glass. The bullets shattered the alien's face.
Then he was falling. Pain was still filling him, throbbing in his leg. He spun around and pressed a button on his chest. A parachute snapped out, sending him upwards, the fighter flying underneath him to crash into the forest. Then he crashed to the floor. When had he gotten so close? Why was everything going black, then clear? What was happening?
He was lying down. But he could hear voices. He struggled upwards, arms pushing on the ground. Then he fell.
"Ugh!" Sam tried to stand, but his right leg wasn't working. He felt sweat . The enemy soldiers. They had to be stopped. He turned over, ready to fight.
A red and white shield flew over him. The sound of metal hitting something filled the air. And Sam relaxed.
They were here.
"Sam!" Steve was there. Looking down at him. "Sam, Sam, can you hear me!?"
"I killed the ships," Sam whispered. "Are they okay?"
"Yes, yes they are!" Steve was staring over him, pausing. "God, Sam-"
The sounds of lasers were followed by Steve snapping to his feet to block blasts of light on his shield.
"Captain," a thin and reedy voice said softly. Steve glanced over at the speaker. Then he staggered.
"Jesus! What are-"
Maria spoke. Ah, Maria. She was so pretty. Sam coughed, listening. She was screaming for some reason. "He's an ally, Steve, let him help Sam!"
"Maria," Steve mumbled, then grimaced. "Fine!"
"My thanks, Captain America," that thin voice was followed by two arms coming into Sam's view. One was holding a scalpel, while the other hand was cleaning with some sort of solution. Then, two more arms stretched out.
Sam's eyes stared in horror as he began to blackout. "Now. Let us prepare my latest patient for surgery. For my Tonic."
The last thing Sam saw before passing out was a single glowing eye set into a horrific face.
------
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
I roared. And things were destroyed. I walked. And the earth trembled.
I felt my lungs breathing out, and saw gusts of wind buffet the snow falling from above.
Was this how Godzilla always felt? Like he was walking in a world of fragility? In terms of scale, if this form had been as big as, say, Four Arms, then the Tetramand would be stronger. But it WASN'T that small. I was much more than that.
Hulk landed on my claw and used it as a platform to jump upwards and smash into a fighter ship. I raised a claw and slashed outwards, crystal blades slicing through a tank with ease.
Fantasma and Scarlet Witch zoomed past, throwing bolts of purple and red magic at a group of Chitauri soldiers before joining arms and spinning together as they flew forward, becoming a purple and red swirl of colors that smashed into their enemies.
We were almost at the base. I glared at it.
"Hey honey," Jen landed on my head. "Bye honey!" she leaped off, landing feet first into a jeep.
"Gruh," I couldn't help a pleased noise before returning my focus.
"Dial," Natasha's voice filled my head. "We need to take down that shield. Hulk gave it his best shot, but we need a lot more force to take it out. Can you-"
I roared. The waves of sound smashed into the base's shield. It flickered, but after a moment returned to normal. Good enough. I had a plan.
I looked around for the Hulk. After a moment, I saw Bruce's other throwing a tree at something nearby. I reached out, my claw approaching him.
He spun at the shadow that approached, frowning in confusion when he saw my paw. "What Dial Doing?"
I didn't have a way to tell him. Instead, I held my palm out. Confused, he hopped into it. I lifted him up, wincing when a bunch of lasers smacked into my head before Tony shot the offending soldier down. I gently pulled my hand back. Then, I raised my other claw. Slowly, I pointed at the base.
"...Heh. HEHEHEHAHAHAHA!!!!" Hulk roared loudly. "YES! DO IT!"
I reared back. My mouth opened. I roared, long and hard. The sound waves smashed into the shield around the Hydra base. Then I snapped forward.
"HUUUUUUUUULKKKK!" the green man zipped through the air like a bullet. Or a cannonball. His fists were clenched and his arms were thrust outwards into a Superman pose, a laugh following his path. "SMAAAAASH!"
He hit with a booming explosion of sound, dust, then fire and electricity. The shield exploded in turn, the combination of hits finally overtaxing it, the sight of blue force fields cracking apart making me feel as giddy as a school child.
"Well… that works," Natasha mumbled as I moved to the Hulk.
Once I'd gotten close enough, I tapped the Omnitrix, shrinking down into my human form. Being a Godzilla was probably going to be my opening move from now on. But only when it wouldn't crush people. And as bad as Hydra was, they had hostages we wanted to help.
I landed near the crater he'd smashed into the building. On the inside was what looked like a hanger of sorts, empty except for a big pile of rubble.
"Hulk!? Buddy? You in there?"
"..." A green head of hair poked out of the rubble. Hulk grinned at me. "Hulk Flew!"
"Hell yeah, you did!" I said walking over the rubble and looking around, pulling my sword out of its sheath as I walked. "Okay. You ready for the next part of the plan?"
The Hulk nodded, coming out of the rubble and walking over to rub my head gently. "Hulk be back. Dial be careful."
"Don't worry bud," I looked behind me. "Our friends will have our backs."
"Always," Steve said, smiling under his helmet. He was at the front of the crowd, his shield resting on his arm. He had blood on his blue and white armor but looked healthy. Though he also looked like… I don't know. Like something bad had happened. But then, this was a war.
Bucky and the Punisher hefted their guns, Black Panther crouched between them on a piece of rubble, the three black armor-clad men looking dangerous as fuck.
Iron Man floated above, wearing his iconic red and gold. This version looked more advanced than the one he'd come in with though, with silver highlights across the arms and legs.
Warrior walked over to me, her helmet open to reveal her smile, looking more like Xena than ever before, while Mockingbird twirled her batons nearby.
"Time to bring down the castle," I turned to look into the base, gritting my teeth. Time to beat the shit out of Hydra.
------
Maria Hill/Director of BRIDGE
Maria watched as the infiltration team slipped in, the main army beginning to circle the base. As she did, a message came in on another screen. She looked over at it.
Strucker. She scowled at the little Hydra symbol he sent her, a mockery in every way. She turned it on, ignoring Buckler walking over as well.
The man in question was smiling when the video call started. "Hill. Dial is a ridiculous bastard."
"Is he? I haven't noticed," Maria said blandly.
Strucker smirked. "In point of fact, well. All of BRIDGE is becoming quite… over the top. You all have begun to represent a madness that has begun to take over the world."
"Is there a point to this, or are you just trying to banter for the sake of it," Maria snarked. "Because I'll be honest. I just don't care about your opinion."
"Ohhh, these are not opinions," Strucker slowly leaned into the camera. "Bridge. Everything it stands for? It is the beginning of something terrible. A world I will not allow."
"Hard to prevent things from a death bed."
"...It depends on how desperate one is," Strucker said with a smile.
The video call shut off. Maria stared at the black screen. At the end there. Strucker's confidence had become something… fragile. Broken. That could be good. But it was also worrying.
"Maria!" Natasha shouted behind her. She turned to look in her direction. Natasha had a panicked look to her. "Pepper Potts is sending us a distress call. Avengers Tower is being invaded!"
------
Avengers Tower, New York
They appeared in flashes of light. In the main lobby, through the various floors, around 40 people. They were covered in heavy black armor, sparks flashing across them as they showed up, screaming in agony. They bled in sections. Under their armor, metal had become fused to flesh. Three died as they arrived. But the rest forced themselves on, the Hydra symbol on their chest shining.
Before leaving, Tony and Jury Rigg had worked together to develop a shield that could prevent anyone from teleporting in, creating a series of cruel ways to punish those who would try. They had not expected that those who would try would be so far gone mentally they would force themselves to go anyways. The Fishhook device pushed them through. The armor was calibrated to defend them. And when both those things failed to protect them entirely from the effects of forcing the teleportation, Strucker's Scepter gave them a horrific conviction.
When they appeared, the Tower immediately began to sound out the alarms. Security officers with pistols fired on them while people tried to run. Their bullets bounced off the Hydra Teleunits armor. A receptionist tried to run before a bullet drilled into her throat. Outside, fans of the Avengers gathered around the base of the building for a chance to see their heroes ran for their lives.
A black booted foot stepped into the blood of a young woman as she cried in a corner. She looked up. Her face was reflected in a helmet. A rifle raised and fired. The soldier moved on.
There were more targets waiting.
------
Author's Note: This was kinda hard to write? I mean, we're going to the end of a journey in a lot of ways. The end of something that's been a part of my life for a very long time… Well. I'll do my best to make this worth it.
Next chapter will come out much sooner. In the meantime, I'll continue to post all new chapters of Dial early on my Patreon as well as my other stories. Also, I wrote a new self-insert story about a guy getting dropped into the My Hero Academia universe in the body of a teenage Bowser. So far people seem to like it, so check it out and let me know what ya'll think!
Crystalwatcher
(Verified GM)
- Location
- Limbo
You're amazing as always, and I regret only having two likes to give. (One here, one on SB.)
Though I think some of the earlier chapters got mixed up? I was re-reading through and got a weird order from Dial building his Jurry rigg gun and suddenly got hopped four chapters back.
Though I think some of the earlier chapters got mixed up? I was re-reading through and got a weird order from Dial building his Jurry rigg gun and suddenly got hopped four chapters back.
Oh is the story nearly over?
138
Pepper Potts/Rescue
"Get them into the panic rooms!" Pepper shouted as she ran towards her office, clenching a hand to her ear. "Jarvis is opening the main armories, Happy will distribute weapons. I want everyone to move to the higher floors, use the emergency elevators! I want every suit on and fighting. Send the call out to our assets in the city."
"Already done, Miss Potts. Three of our allies are making their way at speed."
Pepper entered the office, a wall opening as she walked up to it. "How about Fitz?"
"He has a side-project he is planning to use. It was supposed to be for a comic-con he and a few of the others would go to."
"Comic-con!?" Pepper spun around. "Is it even combat capable!?"
"Very. As I said, it was a side-project. While it was made for fun, Mr. Stark and he worked to make it a true weapon of war."
Confused, but taking his word for it, Pepper entered the wall that had opened, turning around. Behind her, the Rescue armor came forward. Piece by piece wrapped around her, until she was wearing her full armor.
"Miss Potts, you have no need to fight yourself," Jarvis said, a hint of worry in his voice. "I can have a security unit arrive at your office. And the office itself has a panic room. You will be safe."
"Tony isn't here, Jarvis," she said grimly. "And when he isn't, New York still needs someone to help. Today?" a violet helm wrapped around her head, her eyes coming alight, the face of the helm matching the grim resolve on her own face. "That's me."
She stepped out and headed for the window, Jarvis opening it up. "Jarvis, guide me to them.
"Yes, Miss Potts."
Pepper flew out of the office and went spinning through the air. Her HUD guided her to a lower floor. Inside, three men were highlighted, standing outside of a panic room. Based on how one was standing, it looked like he was placing an explosive on the door.
Pepper aimed for the windows of the floor, flying for them. She fired at the glass as she came in, a repulsor blast shattering the windows. She flew in, flipping over to land on her feet, sliding across the marble floor. The room beyond was one of their offices, set up with cubicles all across the area. At, At the end, three Hydra soldiers were gathered around one of the Stark panic rooms. She didn't know if the strange explosive they were using could blow off the door with it's blue highlights and strange green liquid.
She didn't take the chance.
She fired a blast at one man, the repulsor blast sending him spinning into a wall behind him. To her surprise, the other men spun around and fired at her. They were so fast! They didn't even seem scared! To her worse surprise, the bullets that hit her were surrounded in some kind of energy. They smashed into her with more force than any of the gangsters or thugs of New York had been capable of. She staggered back from then, wincing.
"Armor integrity down 3.4 percent," her HUD said helpfully.
Pepper fired a desperate blast at another soldier. He ducked under it, rolled, then tossed a grenade at her. The explosion deafened and blinded her. She staggered back, wincing.
More bullets struck her as she staggered. Her HUD continued to count down her armor's integrity. Pepper grit her teeth.
She wasn't used to this. She wasn't a fighter, not really.
One of the soldiers attacked her, rushing out of the smoke to hit her in the side of her head with a fist carrying what looked like electric bracers. There was a buzzing sound as the electricity surrounded her head, sending spurts of energy crackling along her armor.
"Gah!" Pepper spit out in pain as the blow somehow got through her armor, agony snapping across her cheek.
She came back around and instinctually snapped her fist out the way Happy taught her. Her fist smashed through his helmet, sending him tumbling through the air like a spinning top. She fired another blast as he spun, hitting him in the gut with it.
The sight of him crumbling invigorated her. She charged into the final man, ignoring the bullets bouncing off her armor. He tried to dodge. She grabbed him by the arm and spun around before tossing the man towards a cubicle, the man going through it in a cacophony of sound.
Pepper looked around. For just a moment, she felt a surge of excitement at the sight of the knocked out bodies. She forced it back by reminding herself that more people needed help.
"Jarvis, what's next?" she asked the AI as she floated up before angling towards the windows.
"Our assets have met up and are on one of the lower floors, where most of the civilians retreated to. They need assistance against superhuman opponents. Hydra is attempting to break into Mr. Fitz's labs on that floor."
Pepper followed the highlighted route and flew out of the tower. She went twisting around the building, noting the police gathered around the bottom, the helicopters floating around it. The Violet Avenger spun around to aim for the windows, and front flipped to slam her booted feet into the windows, the repulsors on her feet shattering them. Inside, chaos reigned.
The room was covered in destruction. What had once been a clean and well designed laboratory was now a room of broken glass, destroyed computers, tables and desks destroyed by the chaos.
A red suited figure flipped over a set of glass windows, tossing the baton in his hand at an opponent across from him. He landed, the red lenses in his eyes flashing in the light, spun around to catch the baton as it bounced back to him, then ducked next to desk, dodging a stream of bullets before rising up to smash his fist into a Hydra man that Pepper's armor registered as a Centipede soldier.
The soldier barely responded to the punch, returning it with a superhumanly fast strike. The red-suited man took the blow across his face. Pepper almost gasped at the sight of blood spurting from his mouth.
Then the man grinned through blood stained teeth. The next three seconds was a flurry of blows, the Centipede soldier unable to respond. It was like he was suddenly fighting someone inhuman. A demon. The soldier fell. And Daredevil moved on to the next person.
At the forefront, two men and one woman were battling it out. The woman had green skin and misshapen limbs, her face twisted like a Picasso painting. She was smaller than She-Hulk, weaker clearly, but still powerful. The green woman slammed a fist into her opponents stomach, the man grunting in pain.
Her ally, a large Centipede soldier, punched the man on the face.
The large Black man in the yellow shirt grit his teeth. Clenched his fists. Then he rushed in. The green woman tried to punch him, but he parried it aside, hit her with a blow to the stomach that lifted her off the floor, then followed with an elbow to the nose that shook the entire room, sending her flying back thirty feet. Then he ducked around another punch from the Centipede soldier, then hit him with a one-two combo, the pairs of blows knocking the super-soldier out. Luke Cage spat out a bit of blood and raised his fists.
The final person was hiding in cover, a Brunette woman about Pepper's height, looked so much like a civilian in her scarf, shirt, and leather jacket, that Pepper was about to pick her up and get her out of there, especially when another soldier came around the cover.
Until the pissed-off looking woman grabbed the soldier's gun, ripped it out of his hands, and shattered it with a single twist. Then she grabbed him by his armor and tossed him upwards, the man slamming into the ceiling with bone crushing force. Then Jessica Jones grabbed him on the way down, spinning around to toss the soldier at his friends.
Pepper went in, firing her repulsor quickly. The blue blasts sent Hydra soldiers tumbling. Jessica and Daredevil followed in her wake, using her as a distraction to begin ripping through the soldiers, while Luke acted as his own distraction.
"So you're Stark's fucktoy?" Jessica asked Pepper as they fought together.
"Wha-" Pepper stalled, looking down at Jessica. "No! I'm his girlfriend!"
"Same thing," Jessica grabbed a paperweight and tossed it, the heavy metal object sending a soldier flying.
Pepper grit her teeth. "Jarvis, remind me to do something terrible to this woman after this!"
Following up that statement, Pepper aimed her unibeam towards Jessica. The brunette's eyes widened when the circle in her chest began to glow. Jessica ducked. And Pepper fired a powerful blast of energy into the green-skinned man behind her, sending the massive man flying back into the wall behind him.
"What the fuck!?" Jessica said, flustered.
Pepper hid her amusement easily. "He was sneaking up on you."
Jessica gave her a glare, then a small smile of acknowledgement.
Together, the four superhuman fighters ended up in front of the panic room the Hydra soldiers had been trying to fight their way into. Luke cracked a man's helmet apart with a punch. Pepper blocked bullets on her chest before blasting a wave of energy outwards. Daredevil flipped over to smash down on top of a man before laying into him with dozens of vicious punches. Jessica tossed a computer like a bullet, sending a Centipede soldier to unconsciousness.
But there were a lot. Pepper's suit began to get scars. Daredevil was beginning to pant in exhaustion, his armor scored in the chest. Jessica's cheek gained a bruise, her eye blacking from when a Centipede soldier got her with a punch. Luke was unharmed on the surface, but he clutched his ribs when he could.
Just when they were about to be overwhelmed, the doors behind them slid open. Pepper looked back in panic. Had Hydra somehow opened the doors!? There was a sound. A 'Clank. Clank. Clank.' The sound echoed.
And an armored giant stepped out, as large as the Hulk in size. The helmet he was wearing had yellow eyes glowing with an ethereal light, set in a face with a grill of sorts where the mouth should have been. On one massive shoulder pauldron was the silhouette of a white dragon on black. On the other, a blazing flame. On a green painted chest, a skull with wings glimmered in the light. The massive armored man set his stance. Then he lifted the cannon in his arms.
The main body of the gun was as large as his chest. The barrel was the size of his fist. It looked like it should have been used by a tank, not a man. A loud whine, piercing and painful, filled the air.
Pepper and Luke pulled Daredevil and Jessica to the ground.
And the gun began to fire. The bullets that came out were analyzed by Pepper's HUD the moment they came out, her suits AI analyzing them. No, not bullets. Explosive shells the size of 1.00 calibre bullets.
They fired towards the Hydra soldiers around them. And most of them clearly missed. Whoever was in the suit, they had terrible aim. The bullets hit the walls, the floor, tore through desks, shot apart computers.
But with them surrounded as they were, and the amount of bullets coming out of that car engine sized gun, they didn't need good aim.
The bullets hit a Centipede soldier in the chest and exploded inside him. A Gamma-Hydra took dozens of bullets, the sheer shower of them exploding across his skin sending him to the floor. A man in black armor screamed as his legs were taken out.
Pepper watched in horror as the formidable army of soldiers tried to run away.
That was when Jarvis struck.
The sound of repulsors was followed by dozens of suits flying in through the window. The familiar visage of Iron Man on each of the suits, they began shooting at the retreating Hydra soldiers. The armored green man with the gun accidently shot two of the suits, destroying one and blowing the arms off another before he stopped.
It was over with that.
Pepper rose to her feet, staring at the sea of destruction before her. Dead bodies, holes in the concrete around them, blood covering the floor and walls. She swallowed, disgusted. "Well… Thanks for the help, but I wish you had been more… subtle. And didn't turn my floors and wall into a cratered mess."
She looked behind her.
The armored man, once so intimidating, was now on his knees, the large gun he'd been carrying in Luke's very confused arms. His helmet was tossed aside, and he was vomiting relentlessly. He glanced up at Pepper, revealing Fitz's all too small and human face inside the armor made for a giant.
"I… I just…" he stared at the bodies before him, sweat across his face, eyes shaking.
"Turned them into chunky salsa?" Jessica said.
Fitz spun around and vomited again. Luke elbowed Jessica who winced.
"Fitz," Pepper walked over, kneeling next to him. She awkwardly rubbed his back, only to realize the massive armor he was wearing was making it so that she was just scratching metal on metal. "It's okay."
"Miss Potts," a suit walked over to her, speaking in Jarvis' voice. "I hate to intrude, but there are more invaders."
"He's right," Daredevil lifted his baton, looking around in an odd manner. "I can hear them running through the halls."
Pepper held in a curse. "Fine. Fitz, you going to be okay?"
The pale-faced scientist swallowed awkwardly, breathing like he'd just run a marathon. "No… But it doesn't matter," he got to his feet in a whirr of sound, walking over to Luke and grabbing his gun. In the panic room, several scientists and civilians poked their scared heads out. "I-I-I'll protect them," he stuttered. "You go save everyone else."
"You sure?" Luke asked kindly, the large man meeting Fitz's eyes. "I can stay."
Fitz swallowed. "...You know, Mr. Stark and I made this thing for fun. Just to see if we could make something crazy for comic-con. And this gun," he hefted it in demonstration. "Was only for realism. We wanted to use it on a shooting range. But I'm glad I had it, now," he seemed to firm. "Astartes may not be heroes. But they do protect people."
"We have to go," Daredevil said, cutting them off.
"Yeah, let's go," Jessica glanced at Fitz. "See ya, Iron Hulk."
"Salamander, actually!" Fitz said, though he sounded more nervous than anything.
Pepper rested a hand on his shoulder. They shared a look. After a moment, he nodded. Pepper smiled, then turned to follow the others, Jarvis' suits following.
"I will remain with you, Mr. Fitz," one suit said to Fitz.
"Thanks," the scientist swallowed. "...You won't mind if I throw up again? The smell is just-"
"I would not blame you," Jarvis said kindly.
Fitz sighed in relief. As he did, Jarvis sent a portion of his mind outwards. To another battlefield, halfway across the world.
------
Author's Note: Chapter is short, but the next one will be done asap, I promise. Just wanted to get something out ASAP.
I'll explain how the 'Defenders' got to the tower so fast later, there wasn't any time to really break it down in chapter without it being super awkward. Just know that Jarvis got them to the tower.
In the meantime, please consider supporting me on Patreon! I've been updating there at a faster pace than ever and thanks to the support of you guys I'm close to one day being able to write this stuff full time. The next chapter of Monsters Of My Own, my Pokemon/Young Justice SI, is up there now, so take a look if you're interested!
"Get them into the panic rooms!" Pepper shouted as she ran towards her office, clenching a hand to her ear. "Jarvis is opening the main armories, Happy will distribute weapons. I want everyone to move to the higher floors, use the emergency elevators! I want every suit on and fighting. Send the call out to our assets in the city."
"Already done, Miss Potts. Three of our allies are making their way at speed."
Pepper entered the office, a wall opening as she walked up to it. "How about Fitz?"
"He has a side-project he is planning to use. It was supposed to be for a comic-con he and a few of the others would go to."
"Comic-con!?" Pepper spun around. "Is it even combat capable!?"
"Very. As I said, it was a side-project. While it was made for fun, Mr. Stark and he worked to make it a true weapon of war."
Confused, but taking his word for it, Pepper entered the wall that had opened, turning around. Behind her, the Rescue armor came forward. Piece by piece wrapped around her, until she was wearing her full armor.
"Miss Potts, you have no need to fight yourself," Jarvis said, a hint of worry in his voice. "I can have a security unit arrive at your office. And the office itself has a panic room. You will be safe."
"Tony isn't here, Jarvis," she said grimly. "And when he isn't, New York still needs someone to help. Today?" a violet helm wrapped around her head, her eyes coming alight, the face of the helm matching the grim resolve on her own face. "That's me."
She stepped out and headed for the window, Jarvis opening it up. "Jarvis, guide me to them.
"Yes, Miss Potts."
Pepper flew out of the office and went spinning through the air. Her HUD guided her to a lower floor. Inside, three men were highlighted, standing outside of a panic room. Based on how one was standing, it looked like he was placing an explosive on the door.
Pepper aimed for the windows of the floor, flying for them. She fired at the glass as she came in, a repulsor blast shattering the windows. She flew in, flipping over to land on her feet, sliding across the marble floor. The room beyond was one of their offices, set up with cubicles all across the area. At, At the end, three Hydra soldiers were gathered around one of the Stark panic rooms. She didn't know if the strange explosive they were using could blow off the door with it's blue highlights and strange green liquid.
She didn't take the chance.
She fired a blast at one man, the repulsor blast sending him spinning into a wall behind him. To her surprise, the other men spun around and fired at her. They were so fast! They didn't even seem scared! To her worse surprise, the bullets that hit her were surrounded in some kind of energy. They smashed into her with more force than any of the gangsters or thugs of New York had been capable of. She staggered back from then, wincing.
"Armor integrity down 3.4 percent," her HUD said helpfully.
Pepper fired a desperate blast at another soldier. He ducked under it, rolled, then tossed a grenade at her. The explosion deafened and blinded her. She staggered back, wincing.
More bullets struck her as she staggered. Her HUD continued to count down her armor's integrity. Pepper grit her teeth.
She wasn't used to this. She wasn't a fighter, not really.
One of the soldiers attacked her, rushing out of the smoke to hit her in the side of her head with a fist carrying what looked like electric bracers. There was a buzzing sound as the electricity surrounded her head, sending spurts of energy crackling along her armor.
"Gah!" Pepper spit out in pain as the blow somehow got through her armor, agony snapping across her cheek.
She came back around and instinctually snapped her fist out the way Happy taught her. Her fist smashed through his helmet, sending him tumbling through the air like a spinning top. She fired another blast as he spun, hitting him in the gut with it.
The sight of him crumbling invigorated her. She charged into the final man, ignoring the bullets bouncing off her armor. He tried to dodge. She grabbed him by the arm and spun around before tossing the man towards a cubicle, the man going through it in a cacophony of sound.
Pepper looked around. For just a moment, she felt a surge of excitement at the sight of the knocked out bodies. She forced it back by reminding herself that more people needed help.
"Jarvis, what's next?" she asked the AI as she floated up before angling towards the windows.
"Our assets have met up and are on one of the lower floors, where most of the civilians retreated to. They need assistance against superhuman opponents. Hydra is attempting to break into Mr. Fitz's labs on that floor."
Pepper followed the highlighted route and flew out of the tower. She went twisting around the building, noting the police gathered around the bottom, the helicopters floating around it. The Violet Avenger spun around to aim for the windows, and front flipped to slam her booted feet into the windows, the repulsors on her feet shattering them. Inside, chaos reigned.
The room was covered in destruction. What had once been a clean and well designed laboratory was now a room of broken glass, destroyed computers, tables and desks destroyed by the chaos.
A red suited figure flipped over a set of glass windows, tossing the baton in his hand at an opponent across from him. He landed, the red lenses in his eyes flashing in the light, spun around to catch the baton as it bounced back to him, then ducked next to desk, dodging a stream of bullets before rising up to smash his fist into a Hydra man that Pepper's armor registered as a Centipede soldier.
The soldier barely responded to the punch, returning it with a superhumanly fast strike. The red-suited man took the blow across his face. Pepper almost gasped at the sight of blood spurting from his mouth.
Then the man grinned through blood stained teeth. The next three seconds was a flurry of blows, the Centipede soldier unable to respond. It was like he was suddenly fighting someone inhuman. A demon. The soldier fell. And Daredevil moved on to the next person.
At the forefront, two men and one woman were battling it out. The woman had green skin and misshapen limbs, her face twisted like a Picasso painting. She was smaller than She-Hulk, weaker clearly, but still powerful. The green woman slammed a fist into her opponents stomach, the man grunting in pain.
Her ally, a large Centipede soldier, punched the man on the face.
The large Black man in the yellow shirt grit his teeth. Clenched his fists. Then he rushed in. The green woman tried to punch him, but he parried it aside, hit her with a blow to the stomach that lifted her off the floor, then followed with an elbow to the nose that shook the entire room, sending her flying back thirty feet. Then he ducked around another punch from the Centipede soldier, then hit him with a one-two combo, the pairs of blows knocking the super-soldier out. Luke Cage spat out a bit of blood and raised his fists.
The final person was hiding in cover, a Brunette woman about Pepper's height, looked so much like a civilian in her scarf, shirt, and leather jacket, that Pepper was about to pick her up and get her out of there, especially when another soldier came around the cover.
Until the pissed-off looking woman grabbed the soldier's gun, ripped it out of his hands, and shattered it with a single twist. Then she grabbed him by his armor and tossed him upwards, the man slamming into the ceiling with bone crushing force. Then Jessica Jones grabbed him on the way down, spinning around to toss the soldier at his friends.
Pepper went in, firing her repulsor quickly. The blue blasts sent Hydra soldiers tumbling. Jessica and Daredevil followed in her wake, using her as a distraction to begin ripping through the soldiers, while Luke acted as his own distraction.
"So you're Stark's fucktoy?" Jessica asked Pepper as they fought together.
"Wha-" Pepper stalled, looking down at Jessica. "No! I'm his girlfriend!"
"Same thing," Jessica grabbed a paperweight and tossed it, the heavy metal object sending a soldier flying.
Pepper grit her teeth. "Jarvis, remind me to do something terrible to this woman after this!"
Following up that statement, Pepper aimed her unibeam towards Jessica. The brunette's eyes widened when the circle in her chest began to glow. Jessica ducked. And Pepper fired a powerful blast of energy into the green-skinned man behind her, sending the massive man flying back into the wall behind him.
"What the fuck!?" Jessica said, flustered.
Pepper hid her amusement easily. "He was sneaking up on you."
Jessica gave her a glare, then a small smile of acknowledgement.
Together, the four superhuman fighters ended up in front of the panic room the Hydra soldiers had been trying to fight their way into. Luke cracked a man's helmet apart with a punch. Pepper blocked bullets on her chest before blasting a wave of energy outwards. Daredevil flipped over to smash down on top of a man before laying into him with dozens of vicious punches. Jessica tossed a computer like a bullet, sending a Centipede soldier to unconsciousness.
But there were a lot. Pepper's suit began to get scars. Daredevil was beginning to pant in exhaustion, his armor scored in the chest. Jessica's cheek gained a bruise, her eye blacking from when a Centipede soldier got her with a punch. Luke was unharmed on the surface, but he clutched his ribs when he could.
Just when they were about to be overwhelmed, the doors behind them slid open. Pepper looked back in panic. Had Hydra somehow opened the doors!? There was a sound. A 'Clank. Clank. Clank.' The sound echoed.
And an armored giant stepped out, as large as the Hulk in size. The helmet he was wearing had yellow eyes glowing with an ethereal light, set in a face with a grill of sorts where the mouth should have been. On one massive shoulder pauldron was the silhouette of a white dragon on black. On the other, a blazing flame. On a green painted chest, a skull with wings glimmered in the light. The massive armored man set his stance. Then he lifted the cannon in his arms.
The main body of the gun was as large as his chest. The barrel was the size of his fist. It looked like it should have been used by a tank, not a man. A loud whine, piercing and painful, filled the air.
Pepper and Luke pulled Daredevil and Jessica to the ground.
And the gun began to fire. The bullets that came out were analyzed by Pepper's HUD the moment they came out, her suits AI analyzing them. No, not bullets. Explosive shells the size of 1.00 calibre bullets.
They fired towards the Hydra soldiers around them. And most of them clearly missed. Whoever was in the suit, they had terrible aim. The bullets hit the walls, the floor, tore through desks, shot apart computers.
But with them surrounded as they were, and the amount of bullets coming out of that car engine sized gun, they didn't need good aim.
The bullets hit a Centipede soldier in the chest and exploded inside him. A Gamma-Hydra took dozens of bullets, the sheer shower of them exploding across his skin sending him to the floor. A man in black armor screamed as his legs were taken out.
Pepper watched in horror as the formidable army of soldiers tried to run away.
That was when Jarvis struck.
The sound of repulsors was followed by dozens of suits flying in through the window. The familiar visage of Iron Man on each of the suits, they began shooting at the retreating Hydra soldiers. The armored green man with the gun accidently shot two of the suits, destroying one and blowing the arms off another before he stopped.
It was over with that.
Pepper rose to her feet, staring at the sea of destruction before her. Dead bodies, holes in the concrete around them, blood covering the floor and walls. She swallowed, disgusted. "Well… Thanks for the help, but I wish you had been more… subtle. And didn't turn my floors and wall into a cratered mess."
She looked behind her.
The armored man, once so intimidating, was now on his knees, the large gun he'd been carrying in Luke's very confused arms. His helmet was tossed aside, and he was vomiting relentlessly. He glanced up at Pepper, revealing Fitz's all too small and human face inside the armor made for a giant.
"I… I just…" he stared at the bodies before him, sweat across his face, eyes shaking.
"Turned them into chunky salsa?" Jessica said.
Fitz spun around and vomited again. Luke elbowed Jessica who winced.
"Fitz," Pepper walked over, kneeling next to him. She awkwardly rubbed his back, only to realize the massive armor he was wearing was making it so that she was just scratching metal on metal. "It's okay."
"Miss Potts," a suit walked over to her, speaking in Jarvis' voice. "I hate to intrude, but there are more invaders."
"He's right," Daredevil lifted his baton, looking around in an odd manner. "I can hear them running through the halls."
Pepper held in a curse. "Fine. Fitz, you going to be okay?"
The pale-faced scientist swallowed awkwardly, breathing like he'd just run a marathon. "No… But it doesn't matter," he got to his feet in a whirr of sound, walking over to Luke and grabbing his gun. In the panic room, several scientists and civilians poked their scared heads out. "I-I-I'll protect them," he stuttered. "You go save everyone else."
"You sure?" Luke asked kindly, the large man meeting Fitz's eyes. "I can stay."
Fitz swallowed. "...You know, Mr. Stark and I made this thing for fun. Just to see if we could make something crazy for comic-con. And this gun," he hefted it in demonstration. "Was only for realism. We wanted to use it on a shooting range. But I'm glad I had it, now," he seemed to firm. "Astartes may not be heroes. But they do protect people."
"We have to go," Daredevil said, cutting them off.
"Yeah, let's go," Jessica glanced at Fitz. "See ya, Iron Hulk."
"Salamander, actually!" Fitz said, though he sounded more nervous than anything.
Pepper rested a hand on his shoulder. They shared a look. After a moment, he nodded. Pepper smiled, then turned to follow the others, Jarvis' suits following.
"I will remain with you, Mr. Fitz," one suit said to Fitz.
"Thanks," the scientist swallowed. "...You won't mind if I throw up again? The smell is just-"
"I would not blame you," Jarvis said kindly.
Fitz sighed in relief. As he did, Jarvis sent a portion of his mind outwards. To another battlefield, halfway across the world.
------
Author's Note: Chapter is short, but the next one will be done asap, I promise. Just wanted to get something out ASAP.
I'll explain how the 'Defenders' got to the tower so fast later, there wasn't any time to really break it down in chapter without it being super awkward. Just know that Jarvis got them to the tower.
In the meantime, please consider supporting me on Patreon! I've been updating there at a faster pace than ever and thanks to the support of you guys I'm close to one day being able to write this stuff full time. The next chapter of Monsters Of My Own, my Pokemon/Young Justice SI, is up there now, so take a look if you're interested!
Last edited:
- Location
- Miami
You forgot to threadmark.
139
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
We ran through the hall of the Hydra base as a group. The corridors of it were big enough for an Ubertank, giving us plenty of room to run. So of course, someone complained about it.
"This is too easy," Bucky said to all of us over the comms.
"You think they're funneling us?" Punisher asked.
"I know they are," he snarled.
"Well, this was literally the only way in that we found, Manchurian Candidate," Tony said as he flew above us.
"And you think that's a coincidence?" Bucky pointed out.
"I can always dig a different way in?" I asked the group.
That was when the floor opened under me. I felt my stomach drop as I fell in. I heard someone above shout. The second I was down low enough, the floor closed above me. Thinking fast, I pulled a knife from my hip and tried to stab it into the walls as I fell, only for my knife to bounce off. I reached for the Omnitrix, only to land on a slide, wincing at the impact before I landed on the floor of a room with fluorescent lights.
I rolled to my feet and looked around. Just a big and empty room. I grabbed the Omnitrix, twisting the Dial as I walked forward. "Okay… So what exactly is about to attack me in here?"
"Dial, you okay?" Steve's voice came from my earpiece.
"Yeah. I got dropped into a room. Other than that though, I'm not sure what the plan was for Hydra."
"Just give me one second," Tony confidently said. "I'll break that door open and… wait, there's a lot more going on- fuck!"
"Tony!" Steve shouted. "Bucky, duck!"
"What is happening?" I reached for my watch.
That was when a door to my left that I had thought was a wall slid open. I spun to face it.
And I froze.
She was standing there. Long brown hair. Golden eyes, eyes I'd seen before. A build similar to Ruby's or Natasha's, with a black tanktop and leather pants on. Just like in the video I'd seen.
"Laura," I whispered.
She stared at me. I stared back. She had a blank look on her face, but her eyes were...
I can't explain how I felt then. God, she was so small. Just a kid-
A voice that sounded like Ares and Nat in tandem roared in my head. "Snap out of it!"
I reached for the Omnitrix. Her eyes hardened. Twin blades left both her knuckles, diamonds glittering in the fluorescent light. She was moving in an instant, lunging for me with enhanced speed. I instinctively pressed down on the dial. Green light shone across her face, lighting across her golden eyes. Eyes that matched my own now. Her claws sliced outwards. I raised my arm, her diamond blades slicing into my outer skin by about an inch.
I punched her in the stomach, my diamond fist sending her flying back. She rolled on the ground, then snapped back to her feet, glaring at me. Then her eyes widened.
I was in Diamondhead form. It was my favorite form after all. The one best able to handle almost everything that would come my way.
But I wasn't ready to fight. Because I could feel her. In a fundamental way. Like a stream of warm water running down my chest. It wasn't just her bones, the crystals that were inside her, but her. I had no idea how or why, but there was a connection to her that went beyond the one I felt when I was controlling my crystals.
It had to be how she had been created. Some combination of her own genetics, the machine that had pushed the crystals into her, or the fact that it was my own DNA swimming inside her. I'd never heard of anything like that in the show, when Ben had met other Petrosapiens in Diamondhead form…
Before I could contemplate that, she jumped towards the wall, then at me, slashing out at me. I snapped my right hand out into a long blade, parrying one set of claws, then wincing when her other hand stabbed into my wrist.
As her crystal claws hit me, a loud humming sound filled the air, vibrations echoing in my body.
"Gah!" I reared back and smashed my head into hers, the clacking sound of crystals smashing together filling the air. She backed up, a cut on her forehead where I had hit her, revealing the blue-green bones underneath. A cut that began to heal at super-speed, leaving nothing but skin covered in blood.
"I don't suppose saying 'snap out of it' would do anything?" I asked her fruitlessly.
She snarled. She came at me, slicing her claws at me. I raised my arms, shifting both into swords. A cut towards my heart, neck, and stomach. I blocked, parried, then spun aside, a loud humming sound filling the air with each clash.
I swung at her chest with one blade. She front-flipped over the attack, landing on my chest and stabbing me. I reverted one sword into a hand and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her off of me. She grew a katana-like blade from her right foot as I held her up in the air, Laura kicking me in my armpit. The blade stabbed through. I roared, raising my other hand and stabbing her in the stomach. We glared at each other as I spun around and fired the blade I'd stabbed her with, her blade breaking off in my armpit. She was impaled into the wall behind her, while I staggered, grabbing the diamond katana in my armpit. With a savage pull I dragged it out of me, tossing it aside.
"Fuck! That hurt!" I looked up at Laura. She pulled herself forward off the blade that impaled her, landing on the floor. We glared at each other.
This wasn't what I wanted. It was a waste of time! I needed to knock her out. She was brainwashed, not evil. But the fact she could heal so fast was going to work against me. Her stomach wound was gone now. My own wounds healed, if slower.
Then the walls around us began to make loud grinding sounds. For a moment, I thought the ceiling was about collapse. Then the wall behind me opened up, sliding apart. The wall behind Laura began to push forward. The ceiling above me rose.
"Yo, what the hell!?" I said, startled.
Laura jumped towards the moving ceiling, springing off it to come at me from above. I snapped a sword arm out to parry the slice, that loud ringing hum filling the air as she passed me, bounced off a new wall behind me, and tried to impale me in the back. I grew a shield of crystal from my back, taking the stab. She front-flipped over that tried to dropkick me with another long sword from her foot. I sliced up at that blade, sending her flying back, and ran after her, firing crystal shards from one hand like a machine gun. She bounced off a wall, parrying my diamond fire on her claws before meeting me in the middle as the floor below us began to move.
We began to duel in that shifting space, the sounds of crystals clashing followed by echoing vibrating hums through the air.
What the hell was happening!?
------
Tony Stark/Iron Man
When Dial had fallen into the floor, Tony hadn't been too worried about him. After all, they'd all survived worse. He did a quick scan of the floor, trying to figure out the mechanism beneath.
Two things happened then. First, he registered air currents. From the floor, obviously from the opening Dial had fallen into. But more were all around him. Small currents, not noticeable unless you were looking for something odd. He was about to tell everyone that.
The second thing that happened was that a wall opened to his left, followed by a long gooey arm wrapping around his waist and pulling him in, cutting him off mid-speech.
"Fuck!" Tony was thrown into a concrete wall, the entrance he'd been pulled through shutting.
Another long arm smashed into his chest, then his head, sending him cartwheeling through the air. He stopped himself from crashing into another wall with a burst of his repulsors, spinning around in the air to dodge another punch. The arm that tried to punch him somehow twisted in mid-air, hand opening to reach for his foot. Tony twisted to face it, blasting it apart with a repulsor attack with both palms.
The arm exploded apart into piles of white-grey goop. Tony landed on the ground, staring as the goop splattered on the floor. Then it moved. Rolling along the floor, the goop headed towards…
"Pizza dough?" Tony said. His armor scanned it as he eyed the big pile of what looked like a giant chef's beginning to making a delicious lunch. It was around the size of a couch.
Then, a pair of round blank eyes opened in it. A large cavernous 'mouth' opened in the doughy pile, with big blocky pieces of itself in place of teeth. The eyes narrowed at Tony. "Gooooo…"
"Jarvis, save this under 'nightmares I never thought I'd have before this job.'" Tony said in a horrified fascination.
"Already done. Duck."
Tony dived under the long arm that snapped out at him, firing a blast at the main creature. It flexed its body and jumped upwards, the repulsor only slicing through a small portion of it, the creature snapping another arm at him.
"Okay, what the hell is this thing?" Tony asked himself, flying upwards and shooting at the creature as he spun around it, dodging various arms.
"Analyzing now!" Jarvis said through his suit.
That was when the walls began moving, one moving forward to smack into Tony in mid-flight. He bounced off the ground, only to get grabbed by an arm around his ankle and get pulled backwards. Tony stared in wide-eyed horror as the creature's mouth opened wide.
"Oh god, no, it's gonna vore me-!" he was swallowed by the gaping maw. The creature shut its mouth. For a moment, things were quiet, the room moving the glaring monster. Then it's belly began to glow a bright blue. It's eyes widened before an explosion of blue light tore it apart.
Tony coughed, covered in bits of goop as he staggered. "Ohhhhh, my god that was so gross. My new nightmare is going to have sequels."
Then he froze, staring at the piles of goop laid across the floor. They began to move. One big pile at his feet shifted, before a face appeared. It grinned up at him.
The Iron Man glared down. "Jarvis, prepare the Goop countermeasures-"
The walls of the room began to move. Tony immediately flew upwards to avoid the tentacle of goop that shot at him, then dived aside when the wall to his left pushed inwards. As the room began to shift around him and a swarm of tentacles reached for him, Tony put all of his mental power to what did best. Working the problem.
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Steve Rogers/Captain America
"Tony!" Steve tossed his shield, trying to get it in between the gaps in the wall before they closed, but was just a hair too slow. The vibranium disc bounced off the walls, coming back to Steve.
"They just took our two heavy hitters," Punisher said, Frank's voice sounding nearly demonic through his helmet.
That was true. They were a formidable team. Isabelle Hartley, Bobbi Morse, Frank Castle, Buck, and Prince T'Challa. All trained warriors, all either super soldiers or wearing armor equivalent. But Tony and Dial were able to take down buildings with only a modicum of effort. Strucker knew that. He must have been trying to separate them for good reason. Which meant no time to waste.
"We got to get them out," Steve declared, looking from the floor to the wall. "Anyone got explosives?"
"I can get them out," Black Panther strode forward, lowering to a knee. He flared one hand. Long claws popped out his fingers. With a small grunt of exertion, he slammed those claws into the floor. He began twisting his wrist, ripping through the section Dial had fallen through.
"Huh, kitty really does have claws," Isabelle joked.
Steve stared at the walls around him. "...If the floor and wall open up like that. Then what are the chances more of this place can move?"
There was a moment where everyone froze. Then the ceiling above them opened. And three people fell amongst them. As they landed, Steve recognized them from the mission briefings.
Winter Soldiers. The ones created by Hydra, left frozen in a base until Strucker woke them up. They attacked the instant they landed.
One, a massive mountain of a man, kicked at Isabelle, sending her back into the wall as her helmet snapped around her head, the big soldier punched at her face. She pulled her head out of the way, his fist cracking the concrete, then pulled out a handle that formed a short blade, slashing out at him. The soldier slipped past it, pulling out a knife of his own to try to stab her, only for Bobbi to block it on one of her escrima sticks, Isabelle kicking him back before Warrior and Mockingbird moved forward to confront the super-soldier.
The second rushed for Black Panther, who pulled his claws out of the floor to block a kick, flipping over to try and smash the female super-soldier attacking him with a kick of his own. She took the kick on a raised arm, stumbling back, then dodged a punch from Bucky before he shot at her with his assault rifle. She ducked under the bullets and backflipped, shattering the gun with a single kick, before Black Panther grabbed her by her ponytail and pulled her back into a roundhouse.
The Punisher shot at the last one before he could make a move, shooting him in the kneecap. The soldier screamed, but still grabbed Frank by the arm. Steve tossed his shield, hitting the man in the head. Disorientated, the Winter Soldier couldn't block the vicious punch to the throat Frank gave him. He tried to grab him again despite that attack, only for Frank to pull a knife from his hip and stab it into the Winter Soldier's throat.
That was when the walls began to move. Steve stumbled just a bit. And someone came down from the ceiling, followed by two others. The first one rushed Steve. Steve caught his shield in time to block the tackle, only for the man to lift up and push, bringing them into a room that had opened up.
"Steve!" Bucky followed just before the room closed. He kicked the man atop Steve in the gut, sending him flying before a blonde woman came spinning forward to smash Bucky with a double kick in the chest, the Nomad landing and rolling. Steve and Bucky got to their feet, facing their attackers.
And Steve froze. "...Trip. Sharon."
The two brainwashed SHIELD agents only stared back blankly at him, though there was a twitch in their eyes that told him they heard him.
"Don't suppose you two are going to break out of the brainwashing and just come with us?" Bucky said dryly.
Trip raised a pistol and fired, the bullets bouncing off Steve's shield. He rushed for Steve as he fired, tossing the gun when it ran empty. Steve blocked each bullet, caught the gun when it was tossed, and threw his shield. Trip leaped over it, flipping forward in the air to land and punch at Steve. A lightning fast series of blows was traded, a dance of parrying, blocking, and punching, kicks to the lower body being dodged or blocked. A full MMA match in the span of seconds.
Sharon rushed for Bucky, pulling out a pair of twin escrima sticks.
Bucky and Steve shared a momentary look. Steve knew what Bucky was saying. That they might have no choice but to kill them.
Not happening. Steve had made a promise to a girl. And he'd keep it, just like he had the last one.
He caught his shield out of the air as Trip dodged it again, and stepped forward with his heartbeat roaring in his ears.
------
Author's Note: I really wanted this chapter to be huge. Gigantic really. But I came to a point where things ended naturally and decided to end it here, with more for later.
I'm likely doing a lot of OVER THE TOP stuff with this arc. A lot of this shit has been crazy. But this is supposed to be a big over the top ending, the one that I should have done a long time ago. With that in mind, I hope you guys are cool with the madness.
Let me know what you think, any edits I should make, and thank you guys for the support on Patreon. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. You all saved my life. The next chapter of one of my other stories, What's A Koopa To Do? is up there now, and the next Dial will be there soon as well. Thank you guys.
We ran through the hall of the Hydra base as a group. The corridors of it were big enough for an Ubertank, giving us plenty of room to run. So of course, someone complained about it.
"This is too easy," Bucky said to all of us over the comms.
"You think they're funneling us?" Punisher asked.
"I know they are," he snarled.
"Well, this was literally the only way in that we found, Manchurian Candidate," Tony said as he flew above us.
"And you think that's a coincidence?" Bucky pointed out.
"I can always dig a different way in?" I asked the group.
That was when the floor opened under me. I felt my stomach drop as I fell in. I heard someone above shout. The second I was down low enough, the floor closed above me. Thinking fast, I pulled a knife from my hip and tried to stab it into the walls as I fell, only for my knife to bounce off. I reached for the Omnitrix, only to land on a slide, wincing at the impact before I landed on the floor of a room with fluorescent lights.
I rolled to my feet and looked around. Just a big and empty room. I grabbed the Omnitrix, twisting the Dial as I walked forward. "Okay… So what exactly is about to attack me in here?"
"Dial, you okay?" Steve's voice came from my earpiece.
"Yeah. I got dropped into a room. Other than that though, I'm not sure what the plan was for Hydra."
"Just give me one second," Tony confidently said. "I'll break that door open and… wait, there's a lot more going on- fuck!"
"Tony!" Steve shouted. "Bucky, duck!"
"What is happening?" I reached for my watch.
That was when a door to my left that I had thought was a wall slid open. I spun to face it.
And I froze.
She was standing there. Long brown hair. Golden eyes, eyes I'd seen before. A build similar to Ruby's or Natasha's, with a black tanktop and leather pants on. Just like in the video I'd seen.
"Laura," I whispered.
She stared at me. I stared back. She had a blank look on her face, but her eyes were...
I can't explain how I felt then. God, she was so small. Just a kid-
A voice that sounded like Ares and Nat in tandem roared in my head. "Snap out of it!"
I reached for the Omnitrix. Her eyes hardened. Twin blades left both her knuckles, diamonds glittering in the fluorescent light. She was moving in an instant, lunging for me with enhanced speed. I instinctively pressed down on the dial. Green light shone across her face, lighting across her golden eyes. Eyes that matched my own now. Her claws sliced outwards. I raised my arm, her diamond blades slicing into my outer skin by about an inch.
I punched her in the stomach, my diamond fist sending her flying back. She rolled on the ground, then snapped back to her feet, glaring at me. Then her eyes widened.
I was in Diamondhead form. It was my favorite form after all. The one best able to handle almost everything that would come my way.
But I wasn't ready to fight. Because I could feel her. In a fundamental way. Like a stream of warm water running down my chest. It wasn't just her bones, the crystals that were inside her, but her. I had no idea how or why, but there was a connection to her that went beyond the one I felt when I was controlling my crystals.
It had to be how she had been created. Some combination of her own genetics, the machine that had pushed the crystals into her, or the fact that it was my own DNA swimming inside her. I'd never heard of anything like that in the show, when Ben had met other Petrosapiens in Diamondhead form…
Before I could contemplate that, she jumped towards the wall, then at me, slashing out at me. I snapped my right hand out into a long blade, parrying one set of claws, then wincing when her other hand stabbed into my wrist.
As her crystal claws hit me, a loud humming sound filled the air, vibrations echoing in my body.
"Gah!" I reared back and smashed my head into hers, the clacking sound of crystals smashing together filling the air. She backed up, a cut on her forehead where I had hit her, revealing the blue-green bones underneath. A cut that began to heal at super-speed, leaving nothing but skin covered in blood.
"I don't suppose saying 'snap out of it' would do anything?" I asked her fruitlessly.
She snarled. She came at me, slicing her claws at me. I raised my arms, shifting both into swords. A cut towards my heart, neck, and stomach. I blocked, parried, then spun aside, a loud humming sound filling the air with each clash.
I swung at her chest with one blade. She front-flipped over the attack, landing on my chest and stabbing me. I reverted one sword into a hand and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her off of me. She grew a katana-like blade from her right foot as I held her up in the air, Laura kicking me in my armpit. The blade stabbed through. I roared, raising my other hand and stabbing her in the stomach. We glared at each other as I spun around and fired the blade I'd stabbed her with, her blade breaking off in my armpit. She was impaled into the wall behind her, while I staggered, grabbing the diamond katana in my armpit. With a savage pull I dragged it out of me, tossing it aside.
"Fuck! That hurt!" I looked up at Laura. She pulled herself forward off the blade that impaled her, landing on the floor. We glared at each other.
This wasn't what I wanted. It was a waste of time! I needed to knock her out. She was brainwashed, not evil. But the fact she could heal so fast was going to work against me. Her stomach wound was gone now. My own wounds healed, if slower.
Then the walls around us began to make loud grinding sounds. For a moment, I thought the ceiling was about collapse. Then the wall behind me opened up, sliding apart. The wall behind Laura began to push forward. The ceiling above me rose.
"Yo, what the hell!?" I said, startled.
Laura jumped towards the moving ceiling, springing off it to come at me from above. I snapped a sword arm out to parry the slice, that loud ringing hum filling the air as she passed me, bounced off a new wall behind me, and tried to impale me in the back. I grew a shield of crystal from my back, taking the stab. She front-flipped over that tried to dropkick me with another long sword from her foot. I sliced up at that blade, sending her flying back, and ran after her, firing crystal shards from one hand like a machine gun. She bounced off a wall, parrying my diamond fire on her claws before meeting me in the middle as the floor below us began to move.
We began to duel in that shifting space, the sounds of crystals clashing followed by echoing vibrating hums through the air.
What the hell was happening!?
------
Tony Stark/Iron Man
When Dial had fallen into the floor, Tony hadn't been too worried about him. After all, they'd all survived worse. He did a quick scan of the floor, trying to figure out the mechanism beneath.
Two things happened then. First, he registered air currents. From the floor, obviously from the opening Dial had fallen into. But more were all around him. Small currents, not noticeable unless you were looking for something odd. He was about to tell everyone that.
The second thing that happened was that a wall opened to his left, followed by a long gooey arm wrapping around his waist and pulling him in, cutting him off mid-speech.
"Fuck!" Tony was thrown into a concrete wall, the entrance he'd been pulled through shutting.
Another long arm smashed into his chest, then his head, sending him cartwheeling through the air. He stopped himself from crashing into another wall with a burst of his repulsors, spinning around in the air to dodge another punch. The arm that tried to punch him somehow twisted in mid-air, hand opening to reach for his foot. Tony twisted to face it, blasting it apart with a repulsor attack with both palms.
The arm exploded apart into piles of white-grey goop. Tony landed on the ground, staring as the goop splattered on the floor. Then it moved. Rolling along the floor, the goop headed towards…
"Pizza dough?" Tony said. His armor scanned it as he eyed the big pile of what looked like a giant chef's beginning to making a delicious lunch. It was around the size of a couch.
Then, a pair of round blank eyes opened in it. A large cavernous 'mouth' opened in the doughy pile, with big blocky pieces of itself in place of teeth. The eyes narrowed at Tony. "Gooooo…"
"Jarvis, save this under 'nightmares I never thought I'd have before this job.'" Tony said in a horrified fascination.
"Already done. Duck."
Tony dived under the long arm that snapped out at him, firing a blast at the main creature. It flexed its body and jumped upwards, the repulsor only slicing through a small portion of it, the creature snapping another arm at him.
"Okay, what the hell is this thing?" Tony asked himself, flying upwards and shooting at the creature as he spun around it, dodging various arms.
"Analyzing now!" Jarvis said through his suit.
That was when the walls began moving, one moving forward to smack into Tony in mid-flight. He bounced off the ground, only to get grabbed by an arm around his ankle and get pulled backwards. Tony stared in wide-eyed horror as the creature's mouth opened wide.
"Oh god, no, it's gonna vore me-!" he was swallowed by the gaping maw. The creature shut its mouth. For a moment, things were quiet, the room moving the glaring monster. Then it's belly began to glow a bright blue. It's eyes widened before an explosion of blue light tore it apart.
Tony coughed, covered in bits of goop as he staggered. "Ohhhhh, my god that was so gross. My new nightmare is going to have sequels."
Then he froze, staring at the piles of goop laid across the floor. They began to move. One big pile at his feet shifted, before a face appeared. It grinned up at him.
The Iron Man glared down. "Jarvis, prepare the Goop countermeasures-"
The walls of the room began to move. Tony immediately flew upwards to avoid the tentacle of goop that shot at him, then dived aside when the wall to his left pushed inwards. As the room began to shift around him and a swarm of tentacles reached for him, Tony put all of his mental power to what did best. Working the problem.
------
Steve Rogers/Captain America
"Tony!" Steve tossed his shield, trying to get it in between the gaps in the wall before they closed, but was just a hair too slow. The vibranium disc bounced off the walls, coming back to Steve.
"They just took our two heavy hitters," Punisher said, Frank's voice sounding nearly demonic through his helmet.
That was true. They were a formidable team. Isabelle Hartley, Bobbi Morse, Frank Castle, Buck, and Prince T'Challa. All trained warriors, all either super soldiers or wearing armor equivalent. But Tony and Dial were able to take down buildings with only a modicum of effort. Strucker knew that. He must have been trying to separate them for good reason. Which meant no time to waste.
"We got to get them out," Steve declared, looking from the floor to the wall. "Anyone got explosives?"
"I can get them out," Black Panther strode forward, lowering to a knee. He flared one hand. Long claws popped out his fingers. With a small grunt of exertion, he slammed those claws into the floor. He began twisting his wrist, ripping through the section Dial had fallen through.
"Huh, kitty really does have claws," Isabelle joked.
Steve stared at the walls around him. "...If the floor and wall open up like that. Then what are the chances more of this place can move?"
There was a moment where everyone froze. Then the ceiling above them opened. And three people fell amongst them. As they landed, Steve recognized them from the mission briefings.
Winter Soldiers. The ones created by Hydra, left frozen in a base until Strucker woke them up. They attacked the instant they landed.
One, a massive mountain of a man, kicked at Isabelle, sending her back into the wall as her helmet snapped around her head, the big soldier punched at her face. She pulled her head out of the way, his fist cracking the concrete, then pulled out a handle that formed a short blade, slashing out at him. The soldier slipped past it, pulling out a knife of his own to try to stab her, only for Bobbi to block it on one of her escrima sticks, Isabelle kicking him back before Warrior and Mockingbird moved forward to confront the super-soldier.
The second rushed for Black Panther, who pulled his claws out of the floor to block a kick, flipping over to try and smash the female super-soldier attacking him with a kick of his own. She took the kick on a raised arm, stumbling back, then dodged a punch from Bucky before he shot at her with his assault rifle. She ducked under the bullets and backflipped, shattering the gun with a single kick, before Black Panther grabbed her by her ponytail and pulled her back into a roundhouse.
The Punisher shot at the last one before he could make a move, shooting him in the kneecap. The soldier screamed, but still grabbed Frank by the arm. Steve tossed his shield, hitting the man in the head. Disorientated, the Winter Soldier couldn't block the vicious punch to the throat Frank gave him. He tried to grab him again despite that attack, only for Frank to pull a knife from his hip and stab it into the Winter Soldier's throat.
That was when the walls began to move. Steve stumbled just a bit. And someone came down from the ceiling, followed by two others. The first one rushed Steve. Steve caught his shield in time to block the tackle, only for the man to lift up and push, bringing them into a room that had opened up.
"Steve!" Bucky followed just before the room closed. He kicked the man atop Steve in the gut, sending him flying before a blonde woman came spinning forward to smash Bucky with a double kick in the chest, the Nomad landing and rolling. Steve and Bucky got to their feet, facing their attackers.
And Steve froze. "...Trip. Sharon."
The two brainwashed SHIELD agents only stared back blankly at him, though there was a twitch in their eyes that told him they heard him.
"Don't suppose you two are going to break out of the brainwashing and just come with us?" Bucky said dryly.
Trip raised a pistol and fired, the bullets bouncing off Steve's shield. He rushed for Steve as he fired, tossing the gun when it ran empty. Steve blocked each bullet, caught the gun when it was tossed, and threw his shield. Trip leaped over it, flipping forward in the air to land and punch at Steve. A lightning fast series of blows was traded, a dance of parrying, blocking, and punching, kicks to the lower body being dodged or blocked. A full MMA match in the span of seconds.
Sharon rushed for Bucky, pulling out a pair of twin escrima sticks.
Bucky and Steve shared a momentary look. Steve knew what Bucky was saying. That they might have no choice but to kill them.
Not happening. Steve had made a promise to a girl. And he'd keep it, just like he had the last one.
He caught his shield out of the air as Trip dodged it again, and stepped forward with his heartbeat roaring in his ears.
------
Author's Note: I really wanted this chapter to be huge. Gigantic really. But I came to a point where things ended naturally and decided to end it here, with more for later.
I'm likely doing a lot of OVER THE TOP stuff with this arc. A lot of this shit has been crazy. But this is supposed to be a big over the top ending, the one that I should have done a long time ago. With that in mind, I hope you guys are cool with the madness.
Let me know what you think, any edits I should make, and thank you guys for the support on Patreon. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. You all saved my life. The next chapter of one of my other stories, What's A Koopa To Do? is up there now, and the next Dial will be there soon as well. Thank you guys.
Last edited:
GameDragon
Too Hot To Handle
- Location
- Challenger Deep
It always sucks when your friends are kidnapped, brainwashed, modified, and sent to kill you. Always makes things awkward afterwards.
I've got something interesting in mind along those lines. Not quite, but something like that.
Especially if you beat them back into normal.
"Thanks for releasing me from mind control, but I'm now trying to figure out if my head hurts from the brain washing or the concussion."
- Location
- Kansas
When you say "ending", does that mean you're ending this story after this?
No, just this 'book' of it essentially.
karmafalcon
In the wrong place at the right time.
... can someone explain how he became a crystalline Godzilla? I'm still reeling from that
In the Ben 10 reboot, there is a species called Androsapien, who are basically giant crystal creatures that live alongside Petrosapiens. So I saw a way to bring in Gojira, and I took it.
140
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
The floor began to slant, turning into a wall. I created spikes on the bottom of my feet, allowing me to stick the wall. Laura did the same thing, a horn coming from her forehead that she slammed into my chest. I grabbed her by the waist and ripped her from the wall, tossing her bodily towards a room that had opened up across from us. She fired some crystals at the floor she was about to land on, creating a crystal bowl that she flew up out of to land on the ceiling. I clutched at the hole she'd stabbed into my chest as it healed, looking around.
"Yo, why the fuck is this happening!?" I shouted angrily, smashing a hand into the wall I was against as it shifted into a ceiling. "Did Aperture Science make this place!?"
Laura jumped towards me. I pulled on the spikes in my feet to fall towards her in a spin, firing a blade from one hand that she swiped out the air. That little interference worked though, since it slowed her in the air enough for me to punch her in the face, sending her hurtling to the ground. I landed as well and fired more crystals at high-speed around her, creating a makeshift cage in the shape of a tent, gaps between the crystals to let me see her.. She screamed, rolling to her feet and slashing outwards, that dull humming sound filling the air as she began trying to claw her way out. More crystals grew from her shoulders, elbows, and knees, blood dripping just a bit before she healed around them.
"Damn it, will you calm down for a sec!?" I shouted, looking around the shifted room. "Why is this place Inception-ing!?"
She didn't answer, instead raising her claws and slashing down into the floor, creating a hole that she then dropped down into, disappearing into darkness.
"Fuck!" I slapped the Omnitrix. Hulking crystals were replaced by the fluid form of a green single-celled organism. "Goop!"
I flowed forwards, my grav disc helping me move through the gaps of my makeshift cage. I flowed into the hole Laura had cut through the hole. My plan was simple. Diamondhead could fight Laura. Maybe beat her. But Goop could surround her in adhesive, trap her in place, and was immune to all her blades. If freezing a bit at what was beyond.
"Okay," I said in Goop's strange voice. "This is ridiculous."
I was in a space between dozens of moving platforms, walls, and ceilings. They moved on rails, were lifted on arms, making new configurations. Through a gap, I could see Black Panther pouncing from wall to wall as he battled a super-soldier.
"You like it?" an echoing voice filled the space. Strucker. "I must admit, when I paid for it originally, I was skeptical. But the crazy ginger bastard I hired really did impossibly good work."
"Arcade!" I said immediately. He'd shown up in comics a lot. I had trouble remembering all his appearances, my head hurting when I tried, but the redhead was a constant problem. He was famous for making places he called Murderworld, massive and complex deathtraps. It had only worked once. When he'd killed a bunch of teenage heroes.
Yeah. I could see that asshole making a place like this.
Strucker chuckled. "See… things like that, Dial? Those things make you my worst problem. Everything else, I can account for. Tony Stark's intelligence. The gods like Thor and Ares. Steve Rogers and his idiotic idealism. Black Widow, on a good day. Even the Hulk is something I can plan for. But you? How could you have known, based on a single clue, that a man who has somehow hidden his existence even from SHIELD and Hydra, had made this place?"
"I have a vivid imagination," I snarked.
Then, a diamond blade stabbed into my chest. I ignored it to spin around, spraying adhesive from my arm as the blade sliced through me. Laura raised a diamond shield, blocking the adhesive, and slashed at me again. I let her slash through me and surrounded her body in a moment, trapping in my body. She screamed, bubbles rising through my gelatinous body, before she exploded into crystal shrapnel, firing it all about her. The force of it tore me apart, sending pieces splattering across the moving wall around us. My anti-grav disc zoomed past Laura as she took gasping breaths, scooping up the pieces of my body back together. When she noticed the grav disc collecting portions of me, she leapt forward, stabbing at the anti-grav disc. It dodged her stab, diving around a robotic arm moving a wall out of the way.
"The Omnitrix, a device with an alien for every possible scenario. Knowledge that you shouldn't have. Chaos that follows you wherever you go… And of course, the relationships you've established. Of all the Avengers, I want to kill you the most."
"You know how to make someone feel special!" I snapped out a stretchy arm of goop towards Laura as my body finished coming together. The long arm wrapped around her ankle, then pulled back towards me. I spun as she approached, throwing her into a wall, then sprayed her with a blast of adhesive goop, trapping her against it.
"Yaaaaah!" she screamed, struggling to escape. I was about to tell her to calm down, but stopped myself. Not much point in talking down a brainwashed person. Better to take out Strucker-
Crystals snapped out of her skin again, ripping through Laura's clothes. She screamed as it grew into a sheet of armor around her body, turning her into a blood-soaked miniature version of Diamondhead. The blood mixed with the adhesive goop, clouds of red inside green, before she fired off dozens of shards from herself, slashing through the adhesive. She dropped dozens of feet, a glittering crystal in the darkness. I followed, dropping down with her into the shadows as the walls closed in around us. I shifted and flowed through every crevice I could, following her down, down, down.
Suddenly, the darkness opened up into a light filled room. Laura smashed into the center of the room, cratering the concrete before rolling to the edges of the room. I splashed onto the ground next to her, then flowed up into a bipedal shape again, raising my hands in a fighting stance while looking around.
We were surrounded. Dozens of men in lab coats, all facing us. The room was in the shape of a dome with lights pointed at the circle in the center that I stood in.
And Strucker was standing just outside that circle, next to what looked like a speaker, the Scepter of Loki dangling from an armored hand. Laura stood beside him, the diamond armor she'd created sinking back into her skin, the massive cuts on her body healing in moments.
I spun to aim my hands at Strucker. Laura raised a blade. To her throat.
I froze, staring at her.
"Thank you, Laura," Strucker said, smirking. He met my eyes. "Dial… Let me make this clear, shall I? If you make a move on me, Laura will kill herself. If I die, she kills herself. If you attempt to escape, I will watch as she surrounds her own throat in a ring of razor sharp crystal, and removes her own head."
"...You fucking bastard," I snarled, hate filling me like acid in my veins.
"Oh, believe me, I take no pleasure in it," Strucker said grimly. "This young woman, as dangerous as she is, is not an asset I wish to lose. But you give me no choice. I need a hostage you will care to defend. And your actions make me think she is it."
"See. That shit, right there? Calling her an asset to lose? Rather than an innocent girl that you took over? That is what makes me want to kill you," I said softly.
"But you won't," Strucker said casually. "In fact, I think you won't do anything of the sort. Not if it threatens her life," I didn't say anything. He took that as confirmation. "Dial. I'd like to offer you a deal. Transform into your Diamondhead form. And simply stand in this circle."
"..." I stared at the speakers around me. About ten, spaced evenly out, each the size of a fridge. Oh god... I could figure out what was happening.
"Yes. I see that you've realized it," Strucker smirked, his monocle jostled by the motion. "My deal is simple. Survive. Survive in this room, without moving. Do that. And I'll let her go," he raised the Scepter in his hand. The blue jewel on it was glowing in an… odd way. Almost… there was a hint of something there. Like I could feel it, at an extremely low level. "I will release her mind from my control. Oh, I will still attempt my escape of course. But I doubt I will ever get a better chance at attempting to kill you."
I thought about that. I knew something Strucker didn't. But even without that… I couldn't let Laura die. She didn't deserve that. After months under his control, years caged by Hydra, her family killed by them… And that connection I felt earlier. What kind of hero could I be, if I didn't do what I could to save her? If I didn't sacrifice myself for her?
The blade at her throat trembled. Just a fraction. Barely noticeable. She was staring at me. Even without her face showing a single movement, her eyes never wavering…
I wanted to kill Strucker. But I wanted to save Laura more. My Blight form, the symbiote form, might have been an option to try and manipulate her mind. But I wasn't sure. I knew I could combine my mind with others, but I'd never tried to cure brainwashing with it. And if it didn't work… she was dead.
I had a plan, of sorts. As I said. I knew something he didn't. But even without that, I knew I still would have done what I had too.
Her yellow eyes opened a fraction when I reached for the Omnitrix. I pressed a solemn hand to the symbol. In a flash of green, my body shifted back to my favorite form. I kept my eyes on Laura's as, for the first time, she showed something other than blank emotion or fury. Her eyes, instead, were filled with shock and horror. I think, internally, she really thought I was going to let her kill herself.
"Do it," Stucker said, not wasting time. I braced myself. The speakers lit up, a song I couldn't understand playing. Waves of sound ran across my body.
And I screamed.
I tried to hold it in. But it was like nothing I'd ever felt. The closest I can compare it to is dozens of spiked mauls slicing into my skin with brutal swings, smashing into my crystal form.
"GAAAAAAH!"
My diamond skin began to crack, then splinter apart. I fell to my knees, screaming. Laura looked over at Strucker. The monocled asshole was smiling.
I felt my right eye shatter, spilling yellow fluid across the floor. I couldn't hear anything, feel anything.
But I'd been trained for this. Ares wasn't the type to let a weakness remain permanent if he could help it.
I focused myself, forcing my regeneration to go into overtime. I pushed it to specific parts of my body. As the sound waves cracked my body, crystals grew to replace them. The process wasn't neat. The crystals that grew in my wounds were like using knives to stitch together gaping wounds. They grew from cuts across my body, filling the gaps and rising out of my face, chest, back, and arms.
The sound suddenly stopped. I gasped in pain, snapping my head up towards Strucker.
"Now that… is interesting," Strucker said, staring at me. "I had assumed that you would be destroyed much faster than this."
"...Sorry to disappoint," I coughed up some blue-green liquid, shards of crystal shoving itself out of my throat as I coughed.
"Again."
The speakers turned on again. I grabbed the ground, trying to focus as the shattering began again. Then, under the horrific sound, something else began to happen.
The Omnitrix on my chest glowed.
"By the way!" Strucker said over that horrible sound, his smile positively radiant. "The moment you transform into anything else, Laura kills herself! Fair warning!"
I screamed, grabbing the Omnitrix on my chest as it whined. "No! Omnitrix, lifeform lock, code 0910!"
"Warning! Current Lifeform in Critical Condition!" my own voice said from the Omnitrix. "Failsafe must be activa-"
"No, damnit!" I kept my hand on the Omnitrix, fighting the pain and trying to keep the transformation from coming through. My right index finger exploded apart. I felt like my mind was splitting apart. I could feel something under the pain. The Omnitrix, the part of it that was connected to my thoughts, trying to force my transformation. I held it off, staring at Laura. The sonic attack breaking my body, fighting the Omnitrix trying to protect me, forcing my body to continue haphazardly growing crystals to pull me apart. I felt the right side of my chest split apart. The Omnitrix began to glow!
"Diamondhead! Diamondhead, Diamondhead!" I slammed my other hand into the ground as I shouted out.
"Really? You're so desperate to save her?" Strucker sighed, lowering into a squat to meet my eyes. "I admit… My thought was that either you would die, or allow her to. I hadn't expected this level of suicidal idiocy. What is the point of allowing this level of pain," he said as a long crystal blade slowly grew in the place of my popped eye. "For a girl you don't know? A woman who tried to kill you. Tried to kill your friend?"
"Guh," I swallowed. "Asshole. You realize the point of brainwashing is you don't blame the person being forced into it?"
Strucker chuckled. "Yes, I suppose. Still, I believe a reasonable person would have given up when their fingers began to explode."
"Heroes aren't reasonable," I growled out. "That's the point of heroes. Always meddling in things that aren't our business. Helping everyone who needs it. We.. I'll take the pain. I'll break. If it'll make sure she doesn't die."
Laura looked between Strucker and I. He didn't notice. Instead he scowled.
A,,,
"...How positively… I'm not sure I have a word for how much that level of foolishness sickens me. The power of gods, riches beyond imagining, all of it. Belonging to a man who would give it up for an enemy," Strucker rose from his squat and waved a dismissive hand. "Turn it up."
"It goes up…?" I mumbled to myself. Then I grit my teeth as the sounds somehow got worse.
My other eye shattered moments later, blinding me. My left arm blew apart, a long spike of haphazard crystal shoving itself outward to replace it before that began to crack as well. Laura fell to her own knees, still clutching a blade to her throat even as she cried silent tears of pain.
The Omnitrix fought me desperately, trying to change me. I whispered to it over and over, trying to use a voice command to override it. Please. Please. I had to hold on. Until someone could stop this.
"¡Basta!" Laura screamed, still on her knees as she stared at me. I felt my forehead crack apart, my chest falling into chunks. Strucker looked down at her, then dismissively looking back at me
"God, you really don't have the decency to just die, do yo-" Strucker began to say casually.
There was a sound. It could barely be heard over the noises shattering my body. My right eye reformed enough to see where it came from.
A single arrow, stabbed into a speaker to my left.
Strucker's eyes widened. "No-!"
Nine other arrows, each stabbing into the exact center of the speakers. Then, BOOM.
Shrapnel and smoke filled the room, the speakers falling apart. I gasped, sweet relief filling me. And he arrived.
Hawkeye dropped down from the ceiling on a cloak of purple, bow held high. He fired with the speed of a machine gun, firing two-three arrows at a time. The blades of his arrows stabbed into the throats, chests, and foreheads of the scientists and guards around us.
He landed beside me. "Hey Dial. You're looking spiky."
Thank god for Clint Barton.
It had been the plan from the start. Steve. Tony. Me. Even the Hulk. All distractions. Drawing Strucker's eyes, plans, to us. And letting Hawkeye move in for the finale.
"Kill him!" Strucker shouted at Laura while ducking behind cover. He tried to run for a doorway behind him, only for an explosive arrow to explode the roof of the place, sending debris down to block it.
She spun to face him, dropping her blade from her throat. Then, an arrow hit her in the chest, opening up into a gripping claw. Pale green electricity flowed from the claw and into her chest, the poor kid's eyes rolling into the back of her head as she fell to the ground. The arrow, made just for her, continued to pour electricity into her, keeping her from killing herself or anyone else as it paralyzed her.
Strucker snapped to his feet, raising the Scepter and firing it at Clint. The archer ducked aside, firing another shaft at Strucker, running across the room and leaping upwards to avoid another blast from the Hydra leader.
I ignored them. Instead, I grabbed the ground. God. I felt like I was dying. My entire body was falling apart. Hot and cold seemed to ebb and flow throughout me. Heat that seared me alive, then cold that burned.
My right hand, missing two fingers, pulled at the ground, slowly dragging me forward. My left arm, now an insane spiked blade, stabbed the concrete and then angled to bring me closer to my goal. Finally, after dragging myself for a few feet, I rolled over to my back. I looked to my left.
Laura, lying on the floor, convulsing, stared in my eyes, face to face with me.
"...I'm sorry," I mumbled. "But you'll be okay. We'll get you out. I promise."
Her mouth gaped open, pain in her eyes.
"Come on, Strucker, you know you can't beat me!" Clint said, diving behind a destroyed speaker as he fired another arrow into the eye of Hydra scientist that tried to shoot him. "Tell you what, if you stand still, I'll make it quick! Two arrows in the head, nice and easy!"
I turned my head over. My body was healing, slowly. I could see Strucker now. The bald man was hiding behind a pillar of stone, clenching the Scepter tightly in one hand. He was panting, staring around. I could see it then. The moment when he lost all hope. His jaw clenched. He lifted the Scepter up. The blue jewel reflected in his eyes. He grabbed his monocle, ripping it off and tossing it aside, the glass shattering as it landed.
He grabbed the jewel in that gauntleted hand of his. "I suppose I can't beat you, Barton!" Strucker shouted. "...Not as I am!"
He clenched his fist. The metal of the Scepter bent and tore. The jewel cracked apart like glass. And something yellow shone out from the Scepter.
Then he was in our minds. Clint froze, falling to his knees and gasping in horror. The surviving scientists did the same. I could feel him. A mind pressing against my own. Laura tried to scream, but her mouth only opened and closed wordlessly.
"...Months of work," Strucker whispered. In our minds, in my ears. "Studying the Scepter. Training myself. Creating a gauntlet that could channel it's power. And yet… I underestimated its strength."
He stepped over me, heading over to Barton. "I thought I understood it. But now, I wonder if even Loki understood what he held."
Strucker's gauntlet. It held… oh god.
I felt him reach out to Barton. My friend screamed as yellow energy flowed around his head. My own mind began to tear.
So. I let go. The Omnitrix began to spark, then exploded into green light.
"YAAAAAA!"
I exploded into light.
------
Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Clint felt his mind break. Strucker was in his head! Pulling him apart!
"Now that is interesting," a smug voice said. No. Thought. Clint's wife floated before him, her image hazy. His children ran up to her. "What a secret to hide, Barton. I wonder. Will your children show the aptitude you do for this kind of work? I should take a hold of them after this. Once you're dead, they will need a father figure after all."
He almost lost his grip at that. Clint tried to raise his hand, to grab at Strucker, only for his mind to be battered down.
"Now now. Don't be too mad. Once you and your wife die, I will take good care of them. I promise."
Clint wanted to scream. To rage. But all he could do was gasp in horror.
"I can feel the other minds around me… A sea of souls extending around us. A battlefield of powerful minds," Strucker laughed. "This stone… it isn't just a limited bauble. This is a weapon of gods."
Strucker came to a stop before Clint, leaning down. He spoke, both aloud and in Clint's mind. "With this. I no longer need to fear the Avengers. They will be mine. My soldiers. Hydra will surviv-"
"YAAAAAAAA!"
The room exploded in green light, then a shockwave hit them all. Clint was buffeted aside, sent rolling. Strucker somehow created a forcefield of yellow light around him, weathering the shockwaves.
It surprised him so much he almost didn't notice that he was no longer paralyzed. When he finally realized, he spun to his feet, lifting his bow and staring in the direction the explosion had come from.
Smoke was gathered around that area, a green glow shining amongst the clouds. Laura, who had been rolled away by the explosion, staggered to her feet. Strucker stared into the smoke, his lips tight. Clint slowly raised his bow.
A sudden pressure began to mount. It felt… like the one Strucker had done. Gentler, less oppressive. But still. A mental presence within Clint's mind.
A single long, thin arm reached out of the clouds of smoke. It had long winnowy fingers and slightly long claws. Still, it was well muscled, healthy, despite the silvery skin tones. The arm waved outwards. And the smoke acted as though a gigantic fan had been waved. A telekinetic wave of power, Clint thought to himself.
With the smoke gone, the green light within faded as well, revealing the figure within. Hawkeye slowly lowered his bow.
He was tall. Tall as Thor, maybe a little taller. His body was worryingly thin and a bit too lanky and spindly. But at the same time fit and with not an ounce of body fat on him. His muscles taut and chiseled like those of a martial artist across his arms. All four of them. He wore thin white robes that seemed to float over his body, a black strip going up the front of it before turning into a 'V' across his shoulders. His chest was glowing with a red, orange, and yellow set of hues pulsing. The same pulse of light was coming from his eyes, those warm colors gazing upon them. He didn't seem to have a mouth, his face a smooth dark grey, his head elongated with a crest of sorts on the top, that pulsing glow coming from the back of his skull.
And on a sash around his waist, rested the symbol of the Omnitrix.
"...Do it," Strucker said to Laura.
Her face paled. She snapped her hands to the sides, creating a pair of long crystal blades, before reaching for her own throat. Clint raised his bow.
The new form of Dial raised a hand. Laura was suddenly surrounded in violet energy. She struggled to slash her own throat, held in the grip of psychic power. He looked at her as she struggled, eyes briefly glowing violet. The energy flowed up her body and into her head. Her eyes glowed the same violet.
Laura's eyes rolled into the back of her head. She fell backwards, only to be carried on violet waves of energy. Dial waved his top right hand, Laura gently carried on those waves of energy until she was in front of Clint.
"...Take her," Dial said softly. His voice was soft. But it echoed gently in Clint's mind.
Clint quickly reached out and held her in a cradle. As he took a hold of her, a man rose up in the back of the room. A scientist, carrying a gun. He lifted it up and shot at Dial.
The bullets bounced off a violet field. Dial waved his lower left arm, sending the man crumbling to the ground screaming, violet surrounding his body, but his eyes never left Strucker's. "Clint. Leave. Now."
Clint tucked Laura close to his chest and ran for the hills. Just as he left the room, the explosions began, and two minds pressed against his own.
What the fuck was going on!?
------
Ben Tennyson
Another universe away, Azmuth sat atop Ben's shoulder, watching a screen with him. Depicted there was Rook, the blue catman interrogating someone in a small room within the Plumber base they were sitting in.
"Psychic power, you say?" Azmuth asked Ben.
"Yeah, like Xylene could do," Ben said, referencing the Uxorite his Grandpa Max used to (shudder) have a thing with. "They were mind controlling people too. It made them real tough to fight when they kept making everyone go evil. I think thats how they were controlling their army too."
"All in the name of finding a race that could combine physical strength and mental fortitude to their liking?" Azmuth scoffed. "Idiots. Their genetics are a complete mess as well! Amatuers testing and manipulating their own DNA until they became a sterile and useless version of themselves."
"Kind of remind me of the way that the Highbreed used to be," Ben said casually. "Anyway, the Muton's, Sectoids, Chryssalids, all those other idiots, are still causing trouble. I'm going to head out and help the Opticoid's with fighting them off. Do you need anything?"
"If I do, I will let you know," Azmuth hopped off Ben's shoulder, landing on the desk in front of him. As Ben turned and walked out, he heard Azmuth muse to himself. "Still… I wonder how Paradox's boy will deal with the new forms…"
------
Author's Note: For those who were wondering when Dial would use a non-Marvel or Ben 10 alien, here it is. An Ethereal, from X-Com. They have a few abilities, with examples of their pinnacle of power easy to see in the case of things like their Avatar's and the Uber Ethreal, but basically they are psionic beings with an esoteric set of powers, from simple telekinesis and telepathy, all the way up to making dimensional rifts. In other words. Awesome. And just the thing to fight a Mind Stone user.
As for Strucker, he's basically created something equivalent to Ronan's hammer, Loki's Scepter, or even the Infinity Gauntlet (If nowhere NEAR the level of the latter.) His Satan Claw now lets him direct the Mind Stone without dying. So things are about to get REAL interesting.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed that. Let me know what you thought, and I will see you all later, with a new chapter going up on my Patreon ASAP. Peace.
The floor began to slant, turning into a wall. I created spikes on the bottom of my feet, allowing me to stick the wall. Laura did the same thing, a horn coming from her forehead that she slammed into my chest. I grabbed her by the waist and ripped her from the wall, tossing her bodily towards a room that had opened up across from us. She fired some crystals at the floor she was about to land on, creating a crystal bowl that she flew up out of to land on the ceiling. I clutched at the hole she'd stabbed into my chest as it healed, looking around.
"Yo, why the fuck is this happening!?" I shouted angrily, smashing a hand into the wall I was against as it shifted into a ceiling. "Did Aperture Science make this place!?"
Laura jumped towards me. I pulled on the spikes in my feet to fall towards her in a spin, firing a blade from one hand that she swiped out the air. That little interference worked though, since it slowed her in the air enough for me to punch her in the face, sending her hurtling to the ground. I landed as well and fired more crystals at high-speed around her, creating a makeshift cage in the shape of a tent, gaps between the crystals to let me see her.. She screamed, rolling to her feet and slashing outwards, that dull humming sound filling the air as she began trying to claw her way out. More crystals grew from her shoulders, elbows, and knees, blood dripping just a bit before she healed around them.
"Damn it, will you calm down for a sec!?" I shouted, looking around the shifted room. "Why is this place Inception-ing!?"
She didn't answer, instead raising her claws and slashing down into the floor, creating a hole that she then dropped down into, disappearing into darkness.
"Fuck!" I slapped the Omnitrix. Hulking crystals were replaced by the fluid form of a green single-celled organism. "Goop!"
I flowed forwards, my grav disc helping me move through the gaps of my makeshift cage. I flowed into the hole Laura had cut through the hole. My plan was simple. Diamondhead could fight Laura. Maybe beat her. But Goop could surround her in adhesive, trap her in place, and was immune to all her blades. If freezing a bit at what was beyond.
"Okay," I said in Goop's strange voice. "This is ridiculous."
I was in a space between dozens of moving platforms, walls, and ceilings. They moved on rails, were lifted on arms, making new configurations. Through a gap, I could see Black Panther pouncing from wall to wall as he battled a super-soldier.
"You like it?" an echoing voice filled the space. Strucker. "I must admit, when I paid for it originally, I was skeptical. But the crazy ginger bastard I hired really did impossibly good work."
"Arcade!" I said immediately. He'd shown up in comics a lot. I had trouble remembering all his appearances, my head hurting when I tried, but the redhead was a constant problem. He was famous for making places he called Murderworld, massive and complex deathtraps. It had only worked once. When he'd killed a bunch of teenage heroes.
Yeah. I could see that asshole making a place like this.
Strucker chuckled. "See… things like that, Dial? Those things make you my worst problem. Everything else, I can account for. Tony Stark's intelligence. The gods like Thor and Ares. Steve Rogers and his idiotic idealism. Black Widow, on a good day. Even the Hulk is something I can plan for. But you? How could you have known, based on a single clue, that a man who has somehow hidden his existence even from SHIELD and Hydra, had made this place?"
"I have a vivid imagination," I snarked.
Then, a diamond blade stabbed into my chest. I ignored it to spin around, spraying adhesive from my arm as the blade sliced through me. Laura raised a diamond shield, blocking the adhesive, and slashed at me again. I let her slash through me and surrounded her body in a moment, trapping in my body. She screamed, bubbles rising through my gelatinous body, before she exploded into crystal shrapnel, firing it all about her. The force of it tore me apart, sending pieces splattering across the moving wall around us. My anti-grav disc zoomed past Laura as she took gasping breaths, scooping up the pieces of my body back together. When she noticed the grav disc collecting portions of me, she leapt forward, stabbing at the anti-grav disc. It dodged her stab, diving around a robotic arm moving a wall out of the way.
"The Omnitrix, a device with an alien for every possible scenario. Knowledge that you shouldn't have. Chaos that follows you wherever you go… And of course, the relationships you've established. Of all the Avengers, I want to kill you the most."
"You know how to make someone feel special!" I snapped out a stretchy arm of goop towards Laura as my body finished coming together. The long arm wrapped around her ankle, then pulled back towards me. I spun as she approached, throwing her into a wall, then sprayed her with a blast of adhesive goop, trapping her against it.
"Yaaaaah!" she screamed, struggling to escape. I was about to tell her to calm down, but stopped myself. Not much point in talking down a brainwashed person. Better to take out Strucker-
Crystals snapped out of her skin again, ripping through Laura's clothes. She screamed as it grew into a sheet of armor around her body, turning her into a blood-soaked miniature version of Diamondhead. The blood mixed with the adhesive goop, clouds of red inside green, before she fired off dozens of shards from herself, slashing through the adhesive. She dropped dozens of feet, a glittering crystal in the darkness. I followed, dropping down with her into the shadows as the walls closed in around us. I shifted and flowed through every crevice I could, following her down, down, down.
Suddenly, the darkness opened up into a light filled room. Laura smashed into the center of the room, cratering the concrete before rolling to the edges of the room. I splashed onto the ground next to her, then flowed up into a bipedal shape again, raising my hands in a fighting stance while looking around.
We were surrounded. Dozens of men in lab coats, all facing us. The room was in the shape of a dome with lights pointed at the circle in the center that I stood in.
And Strucker was standing just outside that circle, next to what looked like a speaker, the Scepter of Loki dangling from an armored hand. Laura stood beside him, the diamond armor she'd created sinking back into her skin, the massive cuts on her body healing in moments.
I spun to aim my hands at Strucker. Laura raised a blade. To her throat.
I froze, staring at her.
"Thank you, Laura," Strucker said, smirking. He met my eyes. "Dial… Let me make this clear, shall I? If you make a move on me, Laura will kill herself. If I die, she kills herself. If you attempt to escape, I will watch as she surrounds her own throat in a ring of razor sharp crystal, and removes her own head."
"...You fucking bastard," I snarled, hate filling me like acid in my veins.
"Oh, believe me, I take no pleasure in it," Strucker said grimly. "This young woman, as dangerous as she is, is not an asset I wish to lose. But you give me no choice. I need a hostage you will care to defend. And your actions make me think she is it."
"See. That shit, right there? Calling her an asset to lose? Rather than an innocent girl that you took over? That is what makes me want to kill you," I said softly.
"But you won't," Strucker said casually. "In fact, I think you won't do anything of the sort. Not if it threatens her life," I didn't say anything. He took that as confirmation. "Dial. I'd like to offer you a deal. Transform into your Diamondhead form. And simply stand in this circle."
"..." I stared at the speakers around me. About ten, spaced evenly out, each the size of a fridge. Oh god... I could figure out what was happening.
"Yes. I see that you've realized it," Strucker smirked, his monocle jostled by the motion. "My deal is simple. Survive. Survive in this room, without moving. Do that. And I'll let her go," he raised the Scepter in his hand. The blue jewel on it was glowing in an… odd way. Almost… there was a hint of something there. Like I could feel it, at an extremely low level. "I will release her mind from my control. Oh, I will still attempt my escape of course. But I doubt I will ever get a better chance at attempting to kill you."
I thought about that. I knew something Strucker didn't. But even without that… I couldn't let Laura die. She didn't deserve that. After months under his control, years caged by Hydra, her family killed by them… And that connection I felt earlier. What kind of hero could I be, if I didn't do what I could to save her? If I didn't sacrifice myself for her?
The blade at her throat trembled. Just a fraction. Barely noticeable. She was staring at me. Even without her face showing a single movement, her eyes never wavering…
I wanted to kill Strucker. But I wanted to save Laura more. My Blight form, the symbiote form, might have been an option to try and manipulate her mind. But I wasn't sure. I knew I could combine my mind with others, but I'd never tried to cure brainwashing with it. And if it didn't work… she was dead.
I had a plan, of sorts. As I said. I knew something he didn't. But even without that, I knew I still would have done what I had too.
Her yellow eyes opened a fraction when I reached for the Omnitrix. I pressed a solemn hand to the symbol. In a flash of green, my body shifted back to my favorite form. I kept my eyes on Laura's as, for the first time, she showed something other than blank emotion or fury. Her eyes, instead, were filled with shock and horror. I think, internally, she really thought I was going to let her kill herself.
"Do it," Stucker said, not wasting time. I braced myself. The speakers lit up, a song I couldn't understand playing. Waves of sound ran across my body.
And I screamed.
I tried to hold it in. But it was like nothing I'd ever felt. The closest I can compare it to is dozens of spiked mauls slicing into my skin with brutal swings, smashing into my crystal form.
"GAAAAAAH!"
My diamond skin began to crack, then splinter apart. I fell to my knees, screaming. Laura looked over at Strucker. The monocled asshole was smiling.
I felt my right eye shatter, spilling yellow fluid across the floor. I couldn't hear anything, feel anything.
But I'd been trained for this. Ares wasn't the type to let a weakness remain permanent if he could help it.
I focused myself, forcing my regeneration to go into overtime. I pushed it to specific parts of my body. As the sound waves cracked my body, crystals grew to replace them. The process wasn't neat. The crystals that grew in my wounds were like using knives to stitch together gaping wounds. They grew from cuts across my body, filling the gaps and rising out of my face, chest, back, and arms.
The sound suddenly stopped. I gasped in pain, snapping my head up towards Strucker.
"Now that… is interesting," Strucker said, staring at me. "I had assumed that you would be destroyed much faster than this."
"...Sorry to disappoint," I coughed up some blue-green liquid, shards of crystal shoving itself out of my throat as I coughed.
"Again."
The speakers turned on again. I grabbed the ground, trying to focus as the shattering began again. Then, under the horrific sound, something else began to happen.
The Omnitrix on my chest glowed.
"By the way!" Strucker said over that horrible sound, his smile positively radiant. "The moment you transform into anything else, Laura kills herself! Fair warning!"
I screamed, grabbing the Omnitrix on my chest as it whined. "No! Omnitrix, lifeform lock, code 0910!"
"Warning! Current Lifeform in Critical Condition!" my own voice said from the Omnitrix. "Failsafe must be activa-"
"No, damnit!" I kept my hand on the Omnitrix, fighting the pain and trying to keep the transformation from coming through. My right index finger exploded apart. I felt like my mind was splitting apart. I could feel something under the pain. The Omnitrix, the part of it that was connected to my thoughts, trying to force my transformation. I held it off, staring at Laura. The sonic attack breaking my body, fighting the Omnitrix trying to protect me, forcing my body to continue haphazardly growing crystals to pull me apart. I felt the right side of my chest split apart. The Omnitrix began to glow!
"Diamondhead! Diamondhead, Diamondhead!" I slammed my other hand into the ground as I shouted out.
"Really? You're so desperate to save her?" Strucker sighed, lowering into a squat to meet my eyes. "I admit… My thought was that either you would die, or allow her to. I hadn't expected this level of suicidal idiocy. What is the point of allowing this level of pain," he said as a long crystal blade slowly grew in the place of my popped eye. "For a girl you don't know? A woman who tried to kill you. Tried to kill your friend?"
"Guh," I swallowed. "Asshole. You realize the point of brainwashing is you don't blame the person being forced into it?"
Strucker chuckled. "Yes, I suppose. Still, I believe a reasonable person would have given up when their fingers began to explode."
"Heroes aren't reasonable," I growled out. "That's the point of heroes. Always meddling in things that aren't our business. Helping everyone who needs it. We.. I'll take the pain. I'll break. If it'll make sure she doesn't die."
Laura looked between Strucker and I. He didn't notice. Instead he scowled.
A,,,
"...How positively… I'm not sure I have a word for how much that level of foolishness sickens me. The power of gods, riches beyond imagining, all of it. Belonging to a man who would give it up for an enemy," Strucker rose from his squat and waved a dismissive hand. "Turn it up."
"It goes up…?" I mumbled to myself. Then I grit my teeth as the sounds somehow got worse.
My other eye shattered moments later, blinding me. My left arm blew apart, a long spike of haphazard crystal shoving itself outward to replace it before that began to crack as well. Laura fell to her own knees, still clutching a blade to her throat even as she cried silent tears of pain.
The Omnitrix fought me desperately, trying to change me. I whispered to it over and over, trying to use a voice command to override it. Please. Please. I had to hold on. Until someone could stop this.
"¡Basta!" Laura screamed, still on her knees as she stared at me. I felt my forehead crack apart, my chest falling into chunks. Strucker looked down at her, then dismissively looking back at me
"God, you really don't have the decency to just die, do yo-" Strucker began to say casually.
There was a sound. It could barely be heard over the noises shattering my body. My right eye reformed enough to see where it came from.
A single arrow, stabbed into a speaker to my left.
Strucker's eyes widened. "No-!"
Nine other arrows, each stabbing into the exact center of the speakers. Then, BOOM.
Shrapnel and smoke filled the room, the speakers falling apart. I gasped, sweet relief filling me. And he arrived.
Hawkeye dropped down from the ceiling on a cloak of purple, bow held high. He fired with the speed of a machine gun, firing two-three arrows at a time. The blades of his arrows stabbed into the throats, chests, and foreheads of the scientists and guards around us.
He landed beside me. "Hey Dial. You're looking spiky."
Thank god for Clint Barton.
It had been the plan from the start. Steve. Tony. Me. Even the Hulk. All distractions. Drawing Strucker's eyes, plans, to us. And letting Hawkeye move in for the finale.
"Kill him!" Strucker shouted at Laura while ducking behind cover. He tried to run for a doorway behind him, only for an explosive arrow to explode the roof of the place, sending debris down to block it.
She spun to face him, dropping her blade from her throat. Then, an arrow hit her in the chest, opening up into a gripping claw. Pale green electricity flowed from the claw and into her chest, the poor kid's eyes rolling into the back of her head as she fell to the ground. The arrow, made just for her, continued to pour electricity into her, keeping her from killing herself or anyone else as it paralyzed her.
Strucker snapped to his feet, raising the Scepter and firing it at Clint. The archer ducked aside, firing another shaft at Strucker, running across the room and leaping upwards to avoid another blast from the Hydra leader.
I ignored them. Instead, I grabbed the ground. God. I felt like I was dying. My entire body was falling apart. Hot and cold seemed to ebb and flow throughout me. Heat that seared me alive, then cold that burned.
My right hand, missing two fingers, pulled at the ground, slowly dragging me forward. My left arm, now an insane spiked blade, stabbed the concrete and then angled to bring me closer to my goal. Finally, after dragging myself for a few feet, I rolled over to my back. I looked to my left.
Laura, lying on the floor, convulsing, stared in my eyes, face to face with me.
"...I'm sorry," I mumbled. "But you'll be okay. We'll get you out. I promise."
Her mouth gaped open, pain in her eyes.
"Come on, Strucker, you know you can't beat me!" Clint said, diving behind a destroyed speaker as he fired another arrow into the eye of Hydra scientist that tried to shoot him. "Tell you what, if you stand still, I'll make it quick! Two arrows in the head, nice and easy!"
I turned my head over. My body was healing, slowly. I could see Strucker now. The bald man was hiding behind a pillar of stone, clenching the Scepter tightly in one hand. He was panting, staring around. I could see it then. The moment when he lost all hope. His jaw clenched. He lifted the Scepter up. The blue jewel reflected in his eyes. He grabbed his monocle, ripping it off and tossing it aside, the glass shattering as it landed.
He grabbed the jewel in that gauntleted hand of his. "I suppose I can't beat you, Barton!" Strucker shouted. "...Not as I am!"
He clenched his fist. The metal of the Scepter bent and tore. The jewel cracked apart like glass. And something yellow shone out from the Scepter.
Then he was in our minds. Clint froze, falling to his knees and gasping in horror. The surviving scientists did the same. I could feel him. A mind pressing against my own. Laura tried to scream, but her mouth only opened and closed wordlessly.
"...Months of work," Strucker whispered. In our minds, in my ears. "Studying the Scepter. Training myself. Creating a gauntlet that could channel it's power. And yet… I underestimated its strength."
He stepped over me, heading over to Barton. "I thought I understood it. But now, I wonder if even Loki understood what he held."
Strucker's gauntlet. It held… oh god.
I felt him reach out to Barton. My friend screamed as yellow energy flowed around his head. My own mind began to tear.
So. I let go. The Omnitrix began to spark, then exploded into green light.
"YAAAAAA!"
I exploded into light.
------
Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Clint felt his mind break. Strucker was in his head! Pulling him apart!
"Now that is interesting," a smug voice said. No. Thought. Clint's wife floated before him, her image hazy. His children ran up to her. "What a secret to hide, Barton. I wonder. Will your children show the aptitude you do for this kind of work? I should take a hold of them after this. Once you're dead, they will need a father figure after all."
He almost lost his grip at that. Clint tried to raise his hand, to grab at Strucker, only for his mind to be battered down.
"Now now. Don't be too mad. Once you and your wife die, I will take good care of them. I promise."
Clint wanted to scream. To rage. But all he could do was gasp in horror.
"I can feel the other minds around me… A sea of souls extending around us. A battlefield of powerful minds," Strucker laughed. "This stone… it isn't just a limited bauble. This is a weapon of gods."
Strucker came to a stop before Clint, leaning down. He spoke, both aloud and in Clint's mind. "With this. I no longer need to fear the Avengers. They will be mine. My soldiers. Hydra will surviv-"
"YAAAAAAAA!"
The room exploded in green light, then a shockwave hit them all. Clint was buffeted aside, sent rolling. Strucker somehow created a forcefield of yellow light around him, weathering the shockwaves.
It surprised him so much he almost didn't notice that he was no longer paralyzed. When he finally realized, he spun to his feet, lifting his bow and staring in the direction the explosion had come from.
Smoke was gathered around that area, a green glow shining amongst the clouds. Laura, who had been rolled away by the explosion, staggered to her feet. Strucker stared into the smoke, his lips tight. Clint slowly raised his bow.
A sudden pressure began to mount. It felt… like the one Strucker had done. Gentler, less oppressive. But still. A mental presence within Clint's mind.
A single long, thin arm reached out of the clouds of smoke. It had long winnowy fingers and slightly long claws. Still, it was well muscled, healthy, despite the silvery skin tones. The arm waved outwards. And the smoke acted as though a gigantic fan had been waved. A telekinetic wave of power, Clint thought to himself.
With the smoke gone, the green light within faded as well, revealing the figure within. Hawkeye slowly lowered his bow.
He was tall. Tall as Thor, maybe a little taller. His body was worryingly thin and a bit too lanky and spindly. But at the same time fit and with not an ounce of body fat on him. His muscles taut and chiseled like those of a martial artist across his arms. All four of them. He wore thin white robes that seemed to float over his body, a black strip going up the front of it before turning into a 'V' across his shoulders. His chest was glowing with a red, orange, and yellow set of hues pulsing. The same pulse of light was coming from his eyes, those warm colors gazing upon them. He didn't seem to have a mouth, his face a smooth dark grey, his head elongated with a crest of sorts on the top, that pulsing glow coming from the back of his skull.
And on a sash around his waist, rested the symbol of the Omnitrix.
"...Do it," Strucker said to Laura.
Her face paled. She snapped her hands to the sides, creating a pair of long crystal blades, before reaching for her own throat. Clint raised his bow.
The new form of Dial raised a hand. Laura was suddenly surrounded in violet energy. She struggled to slash her own throat, held in the grip of psychic power. He looked at her as she struggled, eyes briefly glowing violet. The energy flowed up her body and into her head. Her eyes glowed the same violet.
Laura's eyes rolled into the back of her head. She fell backwards, only to be carried on violet waves of energy. Dial waved his top right hand, Laura gently carried on those waves of energy until she was in front of Clint.
"...Take her," Dial said softly. His voice was soft. But it echoed gently in Clint's mind.
Clint quickly reached out and held her in a cradle. As he took a hold of her, a man rose up in the back of the room. A scientist, carrying a gun. He lifted it up and shot at Dial.
The bullets bounced off a violet field. Dial waved his lower left arm, sending the man crumbling to the ground screaming, violet surrounding his body, but his eyes never left Strucker's. "Clint. Leave. Now."
Clint tucked Laura close to his chest and ran for the hills. Just as he left the room, the explosions began, and two minds pressed against his own.
What the fuck was going on!?
------
Ben Tennyson
Another universe away, Azmuth sat atop Ben's shoulder, watching a screen with him. Depicted there was Rook, the blue catman interrogating someone in a small room within the Plumber base they were sitting in.
"Psychic power, you say?" Azmuth asked Ben.
"Yeah, like Xylene could do," Ben said, referencing the Uxorite his Grandpa Max used to (shudder) have a thing with. "They were mind controlling people too. It made them real tough to fight when they kept making everyone go evil. I think thats how they were controlling their army too."
"All in the name of finding a race that could combine physical strength and mental fortitude to their liking?" Azmuth scoffed. "Idiots. Their genetics are a complete mess as well! Amatuers testing and manipulating their own DNA until they became a sterile and useless version of themselves."
"Kind of remind me of the way that the Highbreed used to be," Ben said casually. "Anyway, the Muton's, Sectoids, Chryssalids, all those other idiots, are still causing trouble. I'm going to head out and help the Opticoid's with fighting them off. Do you need anything?"
"If I do, I will let you know," Azmuth hopped off Ben's shoulder, landing on the desk in front of him. As Ben turned and walked out, he heard Azmuth muse to himself. "Still… I wonder how Paradox's boy will deal with the new forms…"
------
Author's Note: For those who were wondering when Dial would use a non-Marvel or Ben 10 alien, here it is. An Ethereal, from X-Com. They have a few abilities, with examples of their pinnacle of power easy to see in the case of things like their Avatar's and the Uber Ethreal, but basically they are psionic beings with an esoteric set of powers, from simple telekinesis and telepathy, all the way up to making dimensional rifts. In other words. Awesome. And just the thing to fight a Mind Stone user.
As for Strucker, he's basically created something equivalent to Ronan's hammer, Loki's Scepter, or even the Infinity Gauntlet (If nowhere NEAR the level of the latter.) His Satan Claw now lets him direct the Mind Stone without dying. So things are about to get REAL interesting.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed that. Let me know what you thought, and I will see you all later, with a new chapter going up on my Patreon ASAP. Peace.
KillingYouNicely
I've seen things. They weren't really interesting.
- Location
- Australia
Hah. I haven't played enough Xcom to recognise this alien, but the conversation between Azmuth and Ben about beings that want a combination of Physical and Mental perfection had me hoping it was some strange version of a Protoss, or Xel'Naga hybrid. That would've been fun.
And alas, no Cromastone. Dial certainly suffered enough for Laura to have unlocked him, but I'm mostly just glad Laura was starting to snap out of it because of his horrible self-sacrifice. Strucker...he's gonna pay dearly for this.
And alas, no Cromastone. Dial certainly suffered enough for Laura to have unlocked him, but I'm mostly just glad Laura was starting to snap out of it because of his horrible self-sacrifice. Strucker...he's gonna pay dearly for this.
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